Adventures in Finding DDOT Bus Passes

Last Fall, 2 Women 4 Wheels researched locations that sell SMART bus passes. We found that SMART services 75 communities in Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb Counties. And in those 75 communities, there are only 20 places that sell bus passes. Only 20! What made it worse was that bus passes were rarely sold after business hours at many of the locations. We found this to be absolutely absurd and a real disservice to transit users including us. (Read the original post here.) 

The research led us to investigate locations where DDOT, which only services the city of Detroit, sells bus passes. Naturally, we started at DDOT’s website. We found 58 locations listed on the site that sell bus passes in the city. 58!!! Compared to SMART bus, DDOT definitely gets a gold star for having more locations to buy a bus pass.

But… wait… not all of the locations listed actually sell bus passes. Yes, that’s right. Unfortunately, when we visited the Lobby Store in Cadillac Tower, which was listed on DDOT’s website, we found that they hadn't sold bus passes in a few years.

Then we headed to the CVS Pharmacy on Woodward, which was also listed on DDOT’s website. All of the stores sell weekly and monthly bus passes, which is great but in our case, we needed the $10 pass, so we can pay for bus rides as we go. Unfortunately, CVS Pharmacy doesn’t sell those bus passes.

That led us to the Rosa Parks Transit Center, where we found this machine (see picture). Unlike SMART, DDOT has caught up with the 21st century and has a machine available as long the Transit Center is open.  It was really easy to use, too. For $10, we received a bus pass valued at $10. When we asked a security guard how late people can purchase bus passes, he replied until the Transit Center closes around midnight. Midnight!!! Well beyond normal business hours. Thank you DDOT! (We should also note that we met a police office at the Rose Parks Transit Center, who is familiar with our blog, and is willing to teach a bike safety workshop. Stay tuned for that adventure!)

Key “take aways” from our research:

• It’s way too much of a challenge to get a bus pass
• SMART needs to sell bus passes at more venues and during non-business hours
• DDOT needs to update their website with locations that actually sell their bus passes
• CVS Pharmacies should sell all the DDOT bus passes including the $10 pass
• We need one universal transit pass (please make this happen Regional Transit Authority)

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Where Do You Purchase A Bus Pass?

It's difficult to get a bus pass. I've come to this conclusion after almost a year of not having a bus pass and instead using many dollar bills and quarters to pay for my metro Detroit transit travels.  

Let me explain.  It started at the Rosa Parks Transit Center located in a very prominent facility in downtown Detroit.  I had used up my bus pass earlier this year and on my way to the SMART bus stop I decided to stop at the transit center to get a new SMART bus pass.  Unfortunately, they didn't sell SMART bus passes because only DDOT buses use that stop. (I still think that since it's the most prominent location for transit in the city, they should sell SMART bus passes, too.)  Strike one.

Then, after a few weeks of using dollar bills to pay for my bus rides, I took the afternoon off to run errands.  Naturally, my first stop was the Royal Oak Transit Center.  Unfortunately, the attendant was on lunch break, which meant no bus pass for me.  Strike two.  (Let me point out that in other cities, they have a machine that is available at all times of the day for people to purchase transit passes.  AHHH!!!  Does metro Detroit have one of these machines?)

Finally, yesterday, I scored a bus pass with ten minutes to spare.  Where?  At the SMART Transit Center in the Buhl Building in downtown Detroit.  Ten minutes to spare you ask?  Well, they close at 5pm.  It's hard to read the sign in the picture to the right but they are only open Mondays through Fridays from 8:30am to 5pm.  When are people that work during the day supposed to purchase a bus pass?  This leads me to my original conclusion - it's difficult to get a bus pass!

What makes it even more difficult?  In all of Oakland County, there are only 8 locations, where one can purchase a bus pass; 2 in Macomb County and 10 in Wayne County!  Check it out for yourself.  Oh, and it gets better...  there are 23 cities that are serviced by SMART in Oakland County, which makes me think there would be more than 8 locations to get bus passes.  There are 26 cities serviced by SMART in Macomb County and another 26 cities in Wayne County.  With 75 cities being serviced by SMART, one would think that there would be at least 75 locations to get a bus pass.  Nope... just 20 in all of metro Detroit.  Does anyone else see this as a problem?  (SMART - Please consider contacting post offices, public libraries, and grocery stores to sell bus passes.)

What about the internet you ask?  Well...yes, you can order a bus pass from SMART's website but you have to pay $2 to have it mailed to you.  That's the cost of a bus ride!

So it's back to dollar bills and quarters... yes, you can use them but from my year of using dollar bills that had just enough of a curled edge that the meter didn't like, I choose a bus pass (when I can leave work early enough to purchase one).  See happy me with a bus pass to the left.  Thanks, Julie, for taking these great photos!

This is Melissa, your investigative reporter with 2 Women, 4 Wheels spinning off!  Happy riding and bus pass searching!