Detroit DOT

[Brandon Baul]

On 2/25/2007 at 11:10 AM, Scrabbleship said:

GMC/TMC RTS's, GM/MCI Classics, and a small order of Neoplan AN460 artics.

DDOT never owned any RTS units from TMC except for Suburban SMART, but they did had GMC RTS, GM Classics, MCI Classics, New Flyer D40HFs, NovaBus RTS T8O-206, T8O-206S and 82VNs.

[Blue Bus Fan]

4 hours ago, Brandon Baul said:

Earlier today, the Detroit DDOT #1033, a 2010 New Flyer D40LF unit, including two other vehicles, was involved in an accident when it crashed into the Sun Valley Foods grocery store building on Dexter Avenue and Doris street at Detroit's west side. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. There were passengers on-board, including the driver, as some were taken to hospitals via ambulance; others who were unharmed were transferred to another bus. It is revealed that the person who drove the Ford Escape is at fault for causing the massive accident and putting more in danger, including the building prone to structure collapse.

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/257207434-story

This is a better place for this post. 

[140 Southshore]

I assume this refers to the new 1700-series XD40s...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/11/08/ddot-adds-20-new-buses-add-20-annually/844235001/

Quote

The Detroit Department of Transportation has added 20 new buses to its fleet of about 300, the transportation service announced Wednesday.

Director Dan Dirks said in a statement,that DDOT plans to add "at least 20" new buses each year, over the next five years, to make its fleet younger. 

Of the 300 or so buses DDOT owns, 240 hit the roads during peak hours. Nine routes run 24 hours.

The new buses, New Flyer XD40s, will replace more elderly buses that "will be removed from the fleet and decommissioned."

While DDOT buses have for years had security cameras inside and out front, the new buses have security cameras on the back, too. 

The new arrivals, DDOT says, will bring the age of the average bus in its fleet down to 8 years old, from 12, which it was in 2014 when Dirks was named director. Dirks said that in ideal circumstances, the age of the Detroit fleet would be 6 years old.

The decommissioning process will take place "gradually," said DDOT spokeswoman Nicole Simmons. But it should be complete in the "next few weeks."

 

[Border City Transit]

Yep.

And leave it to the Detroit News to completely exclude the positive new features of these buses.

They are indeed New Flyer XD40s (good!) with the same outdated, 1977-era paint scheme (bad!)... but they have some noteworthy new features:

* Rear route number sign (a first for Detroit)
* "Skylight" roof hatches at the front and back
* All yellow stanchions on the interior for better visibility
* drum roll please... BACK WINDOW!

There's only 20 on the road so far (1700-1719) but they're getting around. They are MUCH nicer to ride than any other DDOT bus. Like a million times brighter.

Excited for the possibilities!

 

 

17 hours ago, 160 Downriver said:

I assume this refers to the new 1700-series XD40s...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/11/08/ddot-adds-20-new-buses-add-20-annually/844235001/

 

 

[Transit geek]

On 11/9/2017 at 4:22 PM, 160 Downriver said:

The new buses, New Flyer XD40s, will replace more elderly buses that "will be removed from the fleet and decommissioned."

 

Odd to see the reporter actually state the model number in his article. Perhaps he could have figured it out from the appearance of the vehicle, but it's more likely that it was provided to him by DDOT. In any case, it's highly unusual to see the reporter include these technical details in a report not otherwise targeted towards transit enthusiasts like us.

[Border City Transit]

Here's a pair of DDOT's new New Flyers -- back windows and all -- hanging out near Eastern Market on a recent Saturday morning.

By the looks of it, the rear signs were not properly programmed for the "Fresh Wagon" routes serving the market. The rear signs work just fine on other routes.

Throw a new paint scheme on those babies and we'll have some truly first-rate buses!

As of now, 1700-1719 are on the prowl regularly. Nine more units of identical spec are slated to arrive in early 2018. Not sure if they'll continue the 1700 numbers or if they'll crack the 1800 series.

[Cathay 888]

I will visit Detroit, MI next week, any suggestion for the bus spotting for DOT or SMART?? Thanks

[140 Southshore]

2 hours ago, Cathay 888 said:

I will visit Detroit, MI next week, any suggestion for the bus spotting for DOT or SMART?? Thanks

Some locations where it is possible to see multiple DDOT and SMART buses are downtown Detroit, along Woodward Avenue, at the State Fair Transit Center, within the southeast corner of Southfield (particularly on the streets near the vacant Northland Center) and at the Fairlane Town Center bus station.

Of course only the Fast BRT system (which includes a route to Metro Airport) enters Detroit on all days at all times, all other SMART routes only go into Detroit during weekday peak hours.

[Border City Transit]

On 5/23/2018 at 6:09 AM, Cathay 888 said:

I will visit Detroit, MI next week, any suggestion for the bus spotting for DOT or SMART?? Thanks

 

Downtown Detroit during a weekday rush hour.

Try Larned & Woodward... Griswold & Congress... and you can get good views of buses turning at Griswold & Michigan. Plenty of representation from both DDOT and SMART. And Transit Windsor, too!

Grand Circus Park (top edge of Downtown) is another photogenic location. That also puts you part way to Midtown, where there's decent transit action on Woodward, Cass, Mack/MLK and Warren.

By the time you're Downtown, you can just follow your instinct up/down the major streets served by buses.

As @160 Downriver mentioned, you'll only see non-FAST SMART buses in the City during Weekday rush hours.

There's no consistent rhyme or reason to where SMART's ex-DDOT New Flyers show up -- but you'll have a good chance of seeing at least a few Downtown during rush hour.

DDOT has ten New Flyer XD60 artics; you may see them Downtown on 34 Gratiot or 53 Woodward routes. They're a staple on the 17 Eight Mile route (which doesn't come close to Downtown). Also keep an eye out for DDOT's new XD40 Xcelsiors with the back window. Plenty of good buses in DDOT's fleet. Just a shame that their paint scheme is so dreary and outdated.

Anyway... if you're looking for a pleasant experience, Downtown is your best bet.

The outlying transit centers may offer decent "reference" shots of buses, but they're pretty depressing locations.

 

 

[140 Southshore]

Here's a new DDOT site I just discovered...

https://ddot.info/

The home page presents you with a list of DDOT's routes. Clicking on a route will bring you to a page displaying a route map, description and headways. The route map displays each bus that is currently on that route and even each bus stop when zoomed in. There are also "Bus Stops" and "Schedule" tabs. "Bus Stops" obviously shows a list of that route's bus stops, with details on connecting routes. "Schedule" obviously shows the schedule of that route, with current trips highlighted in light green.

One thing I have noticed, though, is that the fleet numbers are not displayed unlike SMART's and Transit Windsor's trackers.

[140 Southshore]

1802 is here! (photo courtesy Bobbie Bozeman and posted on Facebook by Antonio D. Green)

[140 Southshore]

Coming September 1st...

• The ten busiest routes will be branded as Connect Ten featuring upgraded amenities (500 trips per week with 15-minute peak hour headways) and new numbers:
  • 49 Vernor becomes 1 Vernor
  • 37 Michigan becomes 2 Michigan
  • 21 Grand River becomes 3 Grand River
  • 53 Woodward becomes 4 Woodward
  • 48 Van Dyke/Lafayette becomes 5 Van Dyke/Lafayette
  • 34 Gratiot becomes 6 Gratiot
  • 45 Seven Mile becomes 7 Seven Mile
  • 14 Crosstown becomes 8 Warren
  • 25 Jefferson becomes 9 Jefferson
  • 22 Greenfield becomes 10 Greenfield
    • The Vernor and Greenfield routes will be added to the 24/7 network. Two other 24/7 routes, 16 Dexter and 17 Eight Mile, are not part of Connect Ten.
• Three other routes will also be renumbered due to them currently using numbers that will be used for the Connect Ten routes:
  • 7 Cadillac/Harper becomes 67 Cadillac/Harper
  • 9 Chalmers becomes 68 Chalmers
  • 10 Chene becomes 52 Chene
• Free Wi-Fi
• A new logo has been unveiled, featuring two "D"s next to a period. It will be implemented immediately.
• A new livery has also been unveiled, featuring white and gold rays against a mint green background emanating from a Spirit of Detroit logo. It is being applied to the new 1800-series Xcelsiors and will be applied on all current and new buses throughout the next year.

http://theneighborhoods.org/story/ddot-unveils-new-route-system-new-logo-free-wifi

[Border City Transit]

Behold, the graphical components of the campaign:

 

 

[map.man (Darrin)]

33 minutes ago, Border City Transit said:

Behold, the graphical components of the campaign:
 

Kind of like, now that I see everything together.

The old DDOT logo though is iconic.  Sad to see that go.

[Border City Transit]

21 hours ago, map.man (Darrin) said:

Kind of like, now that I see everything together.

The old DDOT logo though is iconic.  Sad to see that go.

Yeah, I appreciate the history -- but I won't miss the old logo. It was super 70s -- in a sad outdated way, not in a cool retro way.

I could have lived with the standard "dt" glyph. But the "revised" version (ca 2007, see image) with the Microsoft Word "Detroit" dome over the "dt"... was a crime against graphic design. I'll be perfectly happy if I never see that atrocity again.

I wish they had changed the name too... something like Detroit Transit.

Part of the reason the old suite needed to go... was DDOT's undeserved horrible reputation. Yeah fine, the system had a lot of issues in the past. Today, though, it's actually pretty decent. Decades of baggage and negative attitudes are dragging DDOT down. It's not reaching its potential because few can move beyond the image of "old DDOT".

We'll see how it goes. I am excited for the new route numbers. And ever thankful for those new buses -- New Flyers with rear windows!

The photo represents multiple low points for DDOT: the awful logo, a dreary Gillig and the year 2012 -- when private management illegally slashed 30% of the service with almost zero notice to the public.

Very happy to put that era in the past -- and looking forward to documenting transit's slow-but-steady rise in Detroit.

 

 

[ShadowFoxNixill]

Random fact: The first route to start the weekday schedule is not one of the 24-hour routes.

Edit: It's also not the topmost trip on its own schedule.

[The Neoplan Rider Studios]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Department_of_Transportation&ved=2ahUKEwjD6qr5heXgAhVlx1kKHe89DaYQFjAAegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw3or5tSYjwzHJOZiTw8YPKX

[tomsbuspage]

I found this video of the 1985 DDOT Roadeo while doing some random Google searching.  Absolutely beautiful footage of Detroit Fishbowls in action!

https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/archive/C35969AA-6906-4D17-A742-478347574338

[alisonc]

On 1/31/2019 at 9:06 PM, ShadowFoxNixill said:

Random fact: The first route to start the weekday schedule is not one of the 24-hour routes.

Edit: It's also not the topmost trip on its own schedule.

The 38 Plymouth’s short-start trip!

1244 and 1019 pulling into the transit centre yesterday morning. 1019’s headsign says “to St John Hospital” despite having just come from there on its current trip. 

[ShadowFoxNixill]

Are you sure 1019 wasn't deadheading to the first trip of a run? The fact that the run number says 03F also makes me think that.\

Edit: As for the 38, nope! The 3:40 bus is a full-length (at least as far as off-peak goes) trip, from Gratiot/French to Millennium Park via Harrison. The 3:50 bus is the short-starter.

[alisonc]

10 hours ago, ShadowFoxNixill said:

Are you sure 1019 wasn't deadheading to the first trip of a run? The fact that the run number says 03F also makes me think that.\

Edit: As for the 38, nope! The 3:40 bus is a full-length (at least as far as off-peak goes) trip, from Gratiot/French to Millennium Park via Harrison. The 3:50 bus is the short-starter.

Good point on 1019. As for the 38, that’s my oops. I was thinking of the short starter which is the first line on the schedule. 

[140 Southshore]

DDOT and SMART will be unveiling a new unified fare payment system, called Dart. Dart will be introduced on May 1 and offers the ability to take unlimited rides on both systems in four-hour and 24-hour increments. Weekly and monthly passes will also be made available, and a phone app is to be released soon.

The article also mentions that a Dart expansion to include the People Mover and Q-Line is in the works. If it was also expanded to include the Ann Arbor Area Transit Authority and Transit Windsor, many more potential opportunities could pop up.

https://detroitmi.gov/news/smart-ddot-announce-unified-payment-system-dart-new-way-pay-public-transit?fbclid=IwAR0ikKO20tyMd2daPr-DChKvq_7GtxEZ2igjseE-GuSlKgPATr5bls8NjAw

[alisonc]

Today, my ride to work (on the inbound 1 Vernor) was 1529, the only pre-2019 bus in the DDOT fleet with plastic rather than upholstered seats.

[Border City Transit]

On 7/15/2019 at 9:53 AM, alisonc said:

Today, my ride to work (on the inbound 1 Vernor) was 1529, the only pre-2019 bus in the DDOT fleet with plastic rather than upholstered seats.

Nice -- and look at that carpet on the w/c partition left over from the old fabric package!

Gray plastic seats on the new 1900-series buses are much nicer-looking. I'm glad they didn't go with blue for the large-scale roll-out. There's only ~five 1900 units in service right now, all on Eastside routes from Shoemaker. Expect them soon on your favorite Westside/Gilbert route, too!

[map.man (Darrin)]

These?

http://www.americanseating.com/transportation/products/insight-prime

Lots of complaints from passengers due to discomfort.

 

 

9 hours ago, Border City Transit said:

Nice -- and look at that carpet on the w/c partition left over from the old fabric package!

Gray plastic seats on the new 1900-series buses are much nicer-looking. I'm glad they didn't go with blue for the large-scale roll-out. There's only ~five 1900 units in service right now, all on Eastside routes from Shoemaker. Expect them soon on your favorite Westside/Gilbert route, too!