DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – An organization that advocates for more funding for transit said transportation agencies in Metro Detroit can only do “so much” with the “paltry” level of funding it gets.
However, transit agencies in the Detroit area have been spending close to the same levels as they had before the pandemic to transport half the ridership.
A ridership report.
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Transportation Riders United released its first report on its take on transit in Michigan, focusing on the Detroit area.
“Transit across metro Detroit has been severely underfunded for decades, with the region investing a fraction of what other regions invest, so our transit agencies have long provided only a very modest level of transit service,” the Transportation Riders United report stated. “The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation. SMART and DDOT drastically cut back service to deal with decreased staffing and modified demand.”
The report continued: “The agencies themselves, however, can only do so much with the paltry level of funding they currently receive. To provide the great transit we need, we need action from elected officials to double transit investment on the local and state levels.”
“Elected Officials Must Boost Transit Funding” was one headline on its website.
However, the city of Detroit’s buses, the Metro Detroit SMART bus and The People Mover all have lost more than half their ridership since the pandemic. That’s according to the Federal Transit Administration.
The Detroit Transportation Corporation, known as The People Mover, has had ridership drop from 1.73 million trips in 2019 to 608,256 in 2023. Operating funds have gone from $19.5 million in 2019 to $15.9 million in 2023.
The SMART bus system, which operates in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, has seen ridership drop from 9.04 million in 2019 to 4.83 million in 2023. Operating funds have gone from $142.4 million in 2019 to $136.5 million in 2023.
A drop in riders.
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The city of Detroit’s bus system has seen ridership drop from 22.8 million in 2019 to 10.5 million in 2023. Operating funds have not been reduced by much, going from $129.7 million to $126.9 million over that four-year period.
Transit across the country has struggled to recover ridership since the pandemic, in part due to people still working remotely.
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