The Story of the Three Buses

The polar vortex is finally gone and hints of spring are all over the place, including full bike racks on buses and that is what brings me to write this blog post!  I wish this was a tale similar to "The Story of the Three Bears" and that, like Goldilocks, I was just trying to find the right bus.  However, I'm not a "Goldi" and I didn't get to decide which bus fit just right.  You see - this is actually a tale about how it's not always easy getting around by bike and bus.  This adventure explains how it took me three buses to get home.

So what happened?  After work last week, Julie and I met up for cocktails (and a transit-related meeting).  The meeting (i.e. happy hour) ended and it was time for me to head home.  I didn't have far to go to catch a bus.  We met at the Majestic, which has a convenient bus stop located right outside the building.  Sure enough, I only waited a few minutes for the bus when I saw one approaching.  I was excited for such speedy service!  That was until I saw two bikes on the front of the bus.  I kept thinking in my head, "Damn! Please, people with bikes - make this your stop!"  Unfortunately, it was not their stop and by default, it was certainly not my stop to get on the bus.  Grrr...

Since I was a little frustrated, I decided to bike north to the Warren & Woodward stop.  It was there that I sent a text to DDOT  (506-64) to learn how long I had to wait.  Twenty minutes.  Okay - that was not bad but it was a little chilly, so I decided to continue to bike north to the bus stop at Grand Boulevard and Woodward to help me warm up.  After waiting a little bit, I saw in the distance a bus!  As the bus approached closer to the stop, I didn't see any bikes.  "Woohoo!"  I thought, "I'm getting on this bus and heading home."  That was until I realized that the bus didn't have any bikes on it because it did not have a bike rack.  Let me repeat that:  IT DID NOT HAVE A BIKE RACK.  In fact, it looked like once upon a time it had a bike rack but it broke off or something.  Just my luck!  Grrr...

So I waited.  At that point, it was after 8pm and I was cold because the sun was down and I didn't plan to be out after dark. Anyway, I stayed put at Grand Boulevard and Woodward and waited.  And waited.  Another twenty minutes passed and finally another bus approached.  I didn't see any bikes on the front and I saw shiny metal bars across the front!  Indeed, that bus (the third bus) had an empty bike rack on the front.  In excitement, I pulled down the bike rack and placed my bike on the bus, which seemed up a little higher than usual but, oh well, my bike was on a bus!  (Unfortunately, there's no picture of bus #3 because I was in such a hurry.) When I finally got a seat inside the bus, I realized I was riding an older bus.  In fact, it had a sign prominently displayed that read, "No Radios Allowed."  I'm assuming that sign was put up before all the kids had their cd players and/or mp3 players and/or ipods.  Another tip that it was an older bus was the sign that notified riders that there was a public hearing scheduled for Friday, February 24, 2012.  (While I'm happy to see some of the older buses in commission to add efficiency, come on DDOT - take down some of the old signage.)

Luckily, the third bus got me to the Fairgrounds, last stop of the 53 Woodward.  I thanked the bus driver, took my bike off the bus rack, and rode into the sunset. 

Wait...the sun already set. 

I rode home in the dark and cold but I made it home. 

Three buses later.

The end.

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.

Quite a Week in Detroit Transit News!

This was quite the week for public transportation news in Detroit - we could barely keep up. If you missed some of the major announcements, don’t worry. 2 Women 4 Wheels will get you back on the transit track!

DDOT Has New Director

As you may recall last week, newly-elected Detroit Mayor Duggan fired the DDOT (Detroit Department of Transportation) director and hired Dan Dirks. Fun fact - Dirks was one of our first fans - long before this recent announcement. A little bit about Dan - he used to be the general manager of the SMART bus system from 1998 to 2007. He also actually got on the bus to learn about some of the problems with DDOT - thank you! He told reporters on Thursday that DDOT buses will run on time within a month. While that’s a pretty bold statement, we welcome it and will check back in on that statement in mid to late-February.

Another announcement we read this past week announced that Detroit Mayor Duggan plans to *increase* DDOT services. Yes, you read that correctly - INCREASE!!! We’re so used to *decreases* in services from both SMART and DDOT that we had to read and reread the article to confirm that. We’re still a bit amazed!

And the last surprise we learned this week from DDOT is that they have a place on their website, where you can sign up for announcements by email. Whoa?! Does this mean that they’re actually going to share information with the public?! Well, we don’t really know that but what the hell - we definitely signed up and you should, too!

Hertel Steps Down as CEO of the RTA

John Hertel will leave the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and will continue as the general manager of SMART. Is this good or bad? We welcome your comments. 1) We didn’t really understand how he could do both jobs at once. 2) We’re concerned that this compromises the advancement of the RTA. Won’t they have to spend more time finding another CEO? Will that delay the process of getting a millage passed to fund the RTA? If so, will the legislature have to appropriate additional funds (and will they actually do it)? 3) Has Hertel ever used public transportation? For instance, does he use it during his daily commute to the SMART office in Detroit? This is a question we’ve had for a few years now and if someone could answer it, we would greatly appreciate it. 4) What’s going on with the RTA? We’ve heard they’re discussing a bus rapid transit system and that’s great but how will they work to improve communication with existing transit providers (aka DDOT and SMART).

Carmona Leaves M-1

Heather Carmona, who was the chief administrative officer, for M-1 left the transit project Friday. We didn’t see that coming. In other M-1 news, a public hearing is scheduled on Wednesday, January 22 from 5 to 7pm with a presentation at 6pm at the Detroit Public Library Main Branch. Find more information here.


Ummm… that’s a lot of transit news for Detroit. What did we miss?  More importantly, what new should we expect next week?

Bus Rapid Transit (What?)

Is bus rapid transit coming to metro-Detroit? Possibly.

We know that this system is working in Cleveland and Chicago. It might be a good form of transportation for Detroit. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) will host a series of meetings to share information about the proposed system and to gather input from us, potential users of this system. Unfortunately, this is probably the worst time of the year to gather this input but nonetheless, this is our opportunity to explain what we want and need for public transportation in metro-Detroit.

What is bus rapid transit? Some refer to it as BRT. Basically, it is a bus-based form of mass transit. What would set it apart from DDOT and SMART if it came to Detroit is that the buses often get their own lane on the road, which allows them to move faster. In some cases, there are sensors on the buses that trigger traffic lights to go green, which helps increase the efficiency of the buses even more. Also, instead of paying the fee on the bus, you pay at the bus stop to save time. It also requires less construction than rail. It sounds like it might have some promise in our region. What do you think?

Will you attend one of SEMCOG’s meetings?
Here are the meeting dates, times, and locations. If you need help finding a bus to one of the meetings, go to SMART or DDOT’s websites. (NOTE: Unfortunately, DDOT’s “trip planner” is not working so the link goes to all the bus schedules.  Also, many of the locations are not immediately near bus stop locations, so plan accordingly.)

Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 6-8 p.m.

Beaumont Hospital Administration Building, 3711 W. 13 Mile Rd., Royal Oak, MI 48073 (Free parking in South Parking Deck; access through South Entrance, Coolidge Highway)

Thursday, December 5, 2013, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Berkley Community Center, 2400 Robina Ave., Berkley, MI 48070

Saturday, December 7, 2013, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

St. Joseph Hospital, Anthony Franco Communications Center Auditorium, 44555 Woodward Ave., Pontiac, MI 48341

Monday, December 9, 2013, 6-8 p.m.

Michigan State University Detroit Event Center, 2nd Floor, 3408 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201 (elevator access through Erskine Street entrance)

Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 6-8 p.m.

NextEnergy, 461 Burroughs St., Detroit, MI 48202

Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 6-8 p.m.

Coolidge Intermediate School Cafeteria, 2521 Bermuda St., Ferndale, MI 48220

If you cannot attend one of these meetings, please send your comments and suggestions to Tiffany Gunter with SEMCOG. Her email address is gunter(at)semcog.org.

Crash Course in Metro-Detroit Transit

How do you use and support public transportation to move around metro-Detroit? Well, grab a snack and get comfy while you read this "crash course" on transit in the region.

SMART
As you know, we live in the Royal Oak area and work in Detroit, so it is convenient for us to bike to Woodward or the Royal Oak Transit Center to hop on any of the SMART Woodward buses to head south at $2 per ride. The 450 and 460 have multiple stops and bike racks. As do the 445 and the 475, which are “Limited” buses - that means less stops and quicker travel time. SMART services Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties.

Julie gets on the bus!

Unfortunately, a big challenge with SMART buses is that they ONLY travel in and out of Detroit during “peak” hours. What are peak hours? In the morning from 6 to 9am and in the evening from 3 to 6pm. As you can imagine, this greatly complicates happy hour for us. What happens if you need to get to Detroit during an off-peak time? You can take SMART south to the last stop on Woodward, which is at the State Fairgrounds. From there, you can pick up a DDOT bus and head south. Vice versa for heading north during an off peak time. (Special note - the buses are not linked very well so expect a 30 minute wait at the Fairgrounds. Check out a previous post where we we learned about this first hand.)

DDOT
The Detroit Department of Transportation services buses that run only in the city at the cost of $1.50 per ride for adults (slightly cheaper than SMART). We usually take the 53 bus up and down Woodward. It has bike racks (important note - not all buses have racks for bikes - boo!).

DDOT does have a unique “Text My Bus” campaign. That’s right - all you have to do is text 50464 the cross streets and you receive a fairly quick text back with times that the bus will arrive. Unfortunately, as we have learned by experience, the buses don’t have any tracking mechanism to provide accurate information of when it will actually arrive at the stop. Missed opportunity, right?! So for now, you get a text with the time that bus is *supposed* to arrive according to the bus schedule, which often is not the case.

People Mover
We don’t really use the People Mover but wanted to make sure to include it, as it is indeed referred to as public transit in the Motor City. Its three mile track circles downtown for just $0.75 per ride. For fun, check out this video as “Zelda and the Unibrows” test whether it’s faster to walk or take the People Mover. While it’s not the most appealing form of transit, it is helpful - especially during the cold winter months when you’re traveling downtown and just want to stay warm (however, moving the body and walking usually keeps you warm, too).

M-1 Rail
Another three miles of tracks are being built along Woodward Avenue to create a new form of transit, the M-1 Rail. What sets this rail project apart from the People Mover is that it’s linear and on the street with other traffic. The hope is that it will be the start of something bigger that hopefully in the future extends all the way north to Pontiac. Unfortunately, there are a number of concerns regarding this project including connectivity, bike accessibility on Woodward, and placement of the tracks on the sides rather than the middle (check out this video that explains why it might be better to have rail in the middle lane).

RTA
Why can't all the public transit options work together? Well, about a year ago, the Michigan State Legislature created the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority (RTA). One of the focal points is to facilitate that communication. However, it's been almost a year and we're not quite sure what is happening. We had it in our schedule to attend their board meeting earlier this week, but it was cancelled. We did recently learn that there is discussion of one single transit pass that could be used universally with SMART, DDOT, People Mover, and M-1. It's a start but we expect more as this region desperately needs a public transportation system that works!!!. (Stay tuned for future updates as Julie is on the RTA Citizen Advisory Council.)

Okay... this concludes your crash course on public transit in metro-Detroit. Are you still awake?! Keep a look out for future 2 Women 4 Wheels events inviting you to ride the bus with us! In the meantime, join us for our launch party with Urbane Media on Thursday, November 21 from 6 to 8pm.