Detroit boosting service on key bus route as it begins bus rapid transit pilot project
One of Detroit’s busier east-side bus routes is getting a boost.
The Detroit Department of Transportation launched a pilot project for the 9-Jefferson bus on Monday that’s designed to boost daytime frequency to every 10 minutes on weekdays and 15 minutes on weekends, an improvement from 15 and 30 minutes, respectively, according to DDOT officials who spoke to the Free Press. The 9-Jefferson travels from the Rosa Parks Transit Center downtown on its western end to Jefferson and Lakepointe in Grosse Pointe Park on its eastern end.
More frequent buses are a key way to improve service.
“People don’t have to think about when the bus is going to come because it's going to come every 10 minutes (or less) throughout the day,” Michael Replogle, founder and a senior adviser for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, told the Free Press in May.
The changes for the Jefferson route, estimated to cost $4.8 million, are being treated as an approximately six-month pilot project as the city begins working toward a vision of adding bus rapid transit in the DDOT Reimagined plan, which seeks to reinvent transit in the city by addressing needs and improving offerings.
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“Service enhancements are entirely consistent with what was part and parcel of DDOT Reimagined,” according to Michael Staley, Detroit’s interim executive director of transit. He noted that the department plans to hold a public hearing on the final DDOT Reimagined plan during the department’s community input meeting being held virtually at 5 p.m. Feb. 15. Here's the Zoom link for that meeting: https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/96268082855 and the call-in number is 312-626-6799 (Meeting ID: 962-6808-2855).
Bus frequency was the only change for the Jefferson route on Monday, but later this year, officials hope to incorporate physical infrastructure improvements as well. Some of the changes envisioned include adding temporary bus stop islands to cut the need for buses to change lanes and merge in and out of traffic (eventual permanent boarding islands would be in coordination with the Department of Public Works), bus stop consolidation to every quarter mile to speed service and adding better shelters with information displays at select locations, according to a news release.
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The Jefferson route pilot project will be used as a template for other tier 1 route improvements. It was chosen first in part because it’s a locally controlled street and it’s considered a busier route even though it’s not as long as some others, officials said. The DDOT Reimagined plan lists the 3-Grand River, 4-Woodward, 6-Gratiot, 7-Seven Mile, 10-Greenfield as other tier 1 routes. Average ridership for the 9-Jefferson is 1,566 on weekdays, 793 on Saturdays and 614 on Sundays, according to information provided by the city.
DDOT also announced a few other changes:
“Bus frequency also will be added to 16-Dexter and 18-Fenkell, and peak period runs will be added to a number of other routes, including:
3- Grand River
13- Conner
15- Chicago/Davison
19- Fort
7- Seven Mile
27- Joy
60- Evergreen
67- Cadillac/Harper”
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DDOT boosting bus frequency on key east side route
