ABOUT THIS SITE:
The "DETROIT TRANSIT HISTORY.info" web-site is my attempt at trying to accurately portray the City of Detroit's rich
long history in the public transportation arena. Although this region's current offering of rapid or mass transit leaves much to
be desired, the city's former municipally owned and operated transit system -- known then as the D.S.R. -- was at one time
a proud, reliable, and respectable leader in the public transit industry.
During better years, the city owned system served a population of nearly two-million, carried over 400,000,000 riders
annually, and operated with a streetcar and motorbus fleet of well over 2,800 vehicles. The department entered the
post-WWII years operating with a fleet of over 900 streetcars on 19 streetcar routes, and just under 1,900 buses along 48
bus routes. A remarkable feat when compared with the current city-owned transit system's fleet of just under 550 assigned
coaches operating along forty bus routes. This site will look at both the past highs and lows of public transit in Detroit.
In addition, it is hoped that this web-site will not only serve as an information tool, but also as a research tool when used in
conjunction with other sources devoted to the history of public transportation in Detroit. Of course, it can also be just a way
to help you along that journey down memory lane.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Of course this web-site wouldn't be successful without the assistance, contribution and support of others. I would like to take
a moment and acknowledge those individuals who've helped to make all this possible.
First my good friend DeJuan D. McIntosh, whose hours of assistance in helping me put this site together was a blessing.
His creativity and computer know-how eliminated those hours I would have spent still sitting in front of my PC uploading and
transferring the volumes of information I've put together over the years. Even those times when I dragged him along to the
Detroit Public Library, spending hours researching related info, he went along without a complaint. Thanks bruh!
I 'd also like to thank DDOT coach operator Abe Simmons, for all of those technical support tips during the early stages of
this project, and DDOT coach operator, and good friend, Karl A. Marshall, for all that bus fleet information, which will prove
so useful as this site develops. And of course, DDOT Senior Service Inspector Dennis Grooms, whom I've had to come to
on numerous occasions for his knowledge of the old DSR and early DDOT bus routes from 'back in the day.'
Of course a transit history web-site wouldn't be successful without having those good friends who've collected transit related
memorabilia down through the years. I'd like to thank Stanley (Stan) Sycko for letting me borrow his extensive newspaper
collection of Detroit transit related articles, some dating back to the 1960's; and for sharing his extensive DSR transfer and
bus schedule collection; passing along old DSR bus photos; and lending the moral support to get this thing going. And then
there's also local transit historian and author Kenneth (Ken) Schramm (along with his father Jack E. Schramm) -- whose
numerous articles, photos, videos, and books they've passed along to me thru the years, and just our plain conversations,
have greatly assisted this project.
Of course, I can't forget my co-workers, fellow supervisors, and upper management personnel at the Detroit Department
of Transportation (DDOT), who've over the years passed along those things of interest to add to my modest (but still
growing) transit archive collection. Although too numerous to mention everyone here,...a big THANK YOU to all.
RESEARCH MATERIAL:
A number of books, articles, newspaper clippings, web-sites, and trips to the Detroit Public Library all helped to contribute
to this site. But a few publications are well worth noting. The following books and publications were used to gather
information for this site, and are valuable research materials for those interested in obtaining further assistance on the
subjects covered on this web-site.
A HISTORY OF THE DETROIT STREET RAILWAYS
by Graeme O'Geran, Ph. D. (The Conover Press, © 1931)
DETROIT'S STREET RAILWAYS Volume I: City Lines 1863--1922
by Jack E. Schramm and William H. Henning (CERA Bulletin 117)
DETROIT'S STREET RAILWAYS Volume II: City Lines 1922--1956
by Jack E, Schramm, William H. Henning and Thomas J. Dworman (CERA Bulletin 120)
DETROIT MOTORBUS CO.
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Sept. 1988 edition)
DETROIT'S DSR, Part 1
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Jan-Feb 1991 edition)
DETROIT'S DSR, Part 2
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Mar-Apr 1992 edition)
DETROIT'S DSR, Part 3
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, May-Jun 1993 edition)
SEMTA and SMART
by Robert L. Campbell and Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Oct-Dec 2003 edition)
DETROIT'S STREET RAILWAYS (Images of Rail)
by Kenneth Schramm (Arcadia Publishing, © 2006)
ADDED FOOTNOTE: If you have any photos to share which you feel will enhance the content of this web-site, or you have
additional information and/or a correction to pass along, feel free to contact me at: detbusfan@detroittansithistory.info
The "DETROIT TRANSIT HISTORY.info" web-site is my attempt at trying to accurately portray the City of Detroit's rich
long history in the public transportation arena. Although this region's current offering of rapid or mass transit leaves much to
be desired, the city's former municipally owned and operated transit system -- known then as the D.S.R. -- was at one time
a proud, reliable, and respectable leader in the public transit industry.
During better years, the city owned system served a population of nearly two-million, carried over 400,000,000 riders
annually, and operated with a streetcar and motorbus fleet of well over 2,800 vehicles. The department entered the
post-WWII years operating with a fleet of over 900 streetcars on 19 streetcar routes, and just under 1,900 buses along 48
bus routes. A remarkable feat when compared with the current city-owned transit system's fleet of just under 550 assigned
coaches operating along forty bus routes. This site will look at both the past highs and lows of public transit in Detroit.
In addition, it is hoped that this web-site will not only serve as an information tool, but also as a research tool when used in
conjunction with other sources devoted to the history of public transportation in Detroit. Of course, it can also be just a way
to help you along that journey down memory lane.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Of course this web-site wouldn't be successful without the assistance, contribution and support of others. I would like to take
a moment and acknowledge those individuals who've helped to make all this possible.
First my good friend DeJuan D. McIntosh, whose hours of assistance in helping me put this site together was a blessing.
His creativity and computer know-how eliminated those hours I would have spent still sitting in front of my PC uploading and
transferring the volumes of information I've put together over the years. Even those times when I dragged him along to the
Detroit Public Library, spending hours researching related info, he went along without a complaint. Thanks bruh!
I 'd also like to thank DDOT coach operator Abe Simmons, for all of those technical support tips during the early stages of
this project, and DDOT coach operator, and good friend, Karl A. Marshall, for all that bus fleet information, which will prove
so useful as this site develops. And of course, DDOT Senior Service Inspector Dennis Grooms, whom I've had to come to
on numerous occasions for his knowledge of the old DSR and early DDOT bus routes from 'back in the day.'
Of course a transit history web-site wouldn't be successful without having those good friends who've collected transit related
memorabilia down through the years. I'd like to thank Stanley (Stan) Sycko for letting me borrow his extensive newspaper
collection of Detroit transit related articles, some dating back to the 1960's; and for sharing his extensive DSR transfer and
bus schedule collection; passing along old DSR bus photos; and lending the moral support to get this thing going. And then
there's also local transit historian and author Kenneth (Ken) Schramm (along with his father Jack E. Schramm) -- whose
numerous articles, photos, videos, and books they've passed along to me thru the years, and just our plain conversations,
have greatly assisted this project.
Of course, I can't forget my co-workers, fellow supervisors, and upper management personnel at the Detroit Department
of Transportation (DDOT), who've over the years passed along those things of interest to add to my modest (but still
growing) transit archive collection. Although too numerous to mention everyone here,...a big THANK YOU to all.
RESEARCH MATERIAL:
A number of books, articles, newspaper clippings, web-sites, and trips to the Detroit Public Library all helped to contribute
to this site. But a few publications are well worth noting. The following books and publications were used to gather
information for this site, and are valuable research materials for those interested in obtaining further assistance on the
subjects covered on this web-site.
A HISTORY OF THE DETROIT STREET RAILWAYS
by Graeme O'Geran, Ph. D. (The Conover Press, © 1931)
DETROIT'S STREET RAILWAYS Volume I: City Lines 1863--1922
by Jack E. Schramm and William H. Henning (CERA Bulletin 117)
DETROIT'S STREET RAILWAYS Volume II: City Lines 1922--1956
by Jack E, Schramm, William H. Henning and Thomas J. Dworman (CERA Bulletin 120)
DETROIT MOTORBUS CO.
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Sept. 1988 edition)
DETROIT'S DSR, Part 1
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Jan-Feb 1991 edition)
DETROIT'S DSR, Part 2
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Mar-Apr 1992 edition)
DETROIT'S DSR, Part 3
by Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, May-Jun 1993 edition)
SEMTA and SMART
by Robert L. Campbell and Jack E. Schramm (Motor Coach Age magazine, Oct-Dec 2003 edition)
DETROIT'S STREET RAILWAYS (Images of Rail)
by Kenneth Schramm (Arcadia Publishing, © 2006)
ADDED FOOTNOTE: If you have any photos to share which you feel will enhance the content of this web-site, or you have
additional information and/or a correction to pass along, feel free to contact me at: detbusfan@detroittansithistory.info
| This web-site was created on May 20, 2006, by life-long Detroiter, transit worker, and bus enthusiast, H.B.Craig,II — P.O. Box 21022, Detroit, MI. 48221 email addy: admin@detroittransithistory.info (This page was last updated on July 8, 2006 - modified on January 2, 2008) |
 |
| (1901-1922) |
| DETROIT MOTORBUS COMPANY |
| (1919-1932) |
| MUNICIPAL OPERATION |
| (1921-1922) |
| DEPARTMENT OF STREET RAILWAYS |
| (1922-1974) |
| DETROIT UNITED RAILWAY |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| | | | | | | | |
| © 2006 |
| DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION |
| (1974-PRESENT) |
| Welcome to "DetroitTransitHistory.info" – The web-site which takes a look back at the History of Public Transportation in and around the City of Detroit. |
