Mass transit advocates pressed city officials to double funding for the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) over the next three years, an ambitious policy move they argue will transform the long-scrutinized city transit provider.
“If we really want to have a transit system that is not only reliable and affordable but is truly convenient and effective, we need to really double the investment in transit at the city level,” said Megan Owens, the executive director of Transportation Riders United, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Owens pitched the budget boost Tuesday evening at the nonprofit’s State of Transit summit, which was held inside Wayne State University’s Industry Innovation Center. The venue is located across the street from TechTown in Detroit’s Midtown neighborhood.
The transit forum, which attracted agency leaders, advocates, lawmakers and riders, was a mostly optimistic and forward-thinking affair with demands for meaningful investments emerging as a major theme of the night.
Owens highlighted positive findings from the nonprofit’s latest report: customers are more satisfied with bus services and the reliability of buses is slowly improving. She lifted up the D2A2 express bus service connecting Detroit and Ann Arbor as a success story, with ridership increasing each year.
Still, problems persist. Transit agency leaders discussed ongoing challenges. Legislators explained their push to position mass transit as a driving force to develop Michigan’s infrastructure and economy, instead of being relegated to “an afterthought.”
In an expansive presentation, Owens noted transit systems that serve Detroiters, including DDOT and the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), remain underfunded.
According to TRU’s report, released the day before the summit, advocates urge the mayor and council to boost DDOT’s local allocation to $150 million in the next fiscal year, using dollars from the city’s general fund. If passed, that would be an additional $36 million.
Last spring, the Detroit City Council approved a roughly 13% increase for higher wages and more bus drivers.
Future county millage renewals could be another mechanism to close transit funding gaps, said Ben Stupka, the director of the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, which oversees local transit systems including DDOT and SMART.
Earlier this month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill that removed an “opt-out” clause, which gave communities in Wayne and Oakland counties the choice to participate and vote for transit millages.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said he’s engaging with communities that previously opted out of transit millages and shared that anti-public transit sentiments were waning.
More than a week into the second Trump administration, questions about federal funding have rattled local transit agencies. “We are in a period of complete chaos right now with our federal situations,” Stupka said on stage. “We’re trying to understand what’s going to yield from that.”
A memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget late Monday sparked uncertainty over the Trump administration’s plan to freeze all federal grants, a crucial financial lifeline for states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington. By Wednesday morning, after major backlash from across the country and a federal judge’s stay, the administration walked back its plans.
During a panel discussion Tuesday, transit agency leaders cited staff shortages and a lack of reliable vehicles as major challenges alongside limited funding.
“We’re still down 20 mechanics. So as much as we have more reliability on the operator side, we are still having difficulties on our vehicle reliability side,” said Tiffany Gunter, the deputy general manager at SMART, which serves Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.
To begin resolving these issues, Gunter said SMART is overhauling its maintenance program to increase the number of buses ready for service.
Robert Cramer, DDOT’s executive director, reiterated vehicle availability as an ongoing concern and said the safety and reliability of the system are key measures of success. According to DDOT’s performance dashboard, 76% of afternoon and evening buses departed terminals on time during weekdays in December. During the daytime, that figure was 88%.
“Transit really is part of building a better quality life and attracting and retaining residents and talent,” Cramer said, adding it’s incumbent upon agency leaders to make public transit “a viable option” for people.
Some DDOT riders remain underwhelmed by the system’s overall performance.
From behind a podium, Patty Fedewa, a bus rider and activist living in West Village, said she’s been fighting for better public transit since the days of the Kwame Kilpatrick administration.
Right now, she appreciates DDOT’s service improvements and amenities: more buses driving near her home and accurate information relayed from the DDOT app that saves her time.
But Fedewa isn’t fully confident in the system, noting a gap in bus services along the Woodward Corridor on the weekends. “I like to ride transit. I don’t want to schedule it. I want there to be a bus for me,” she said.
As the evening wrapped up, Christina Debose, a regular bus rider in Detroit and transit influencer under her @sociallychrissy handle online, still had questions. She acknowledged Cramer is in the first month of his DDOT tenure but said she wanted more concrete plans about engaging and informing younger and older residents about the city’s buses.
“What are we gonna do to increase the ridership of Detroit?” she said. “How can we help as a community?”