D-DOT Route #53 + SMART Route #495
| WOODWARD-JOHN R. |
Shortly after becoming Detroit's new mayor in January, 1994, Dennis W. Archer attempted to spark a renewed interest
in merging the DDOT (city) and SMART (suburban) bus operations. As part of a pilot program, duplicate bus
operations along East Jefferson, Michigan, John R. and Fort would merge, with only one of the agencies providing
service along each route. The SMART system would operate all of the service along Michigan and Jefferson Avenues
, while DDOT would operate all service along Fort Street and John R.
The DDOT routes #25 E. Jefferson and #37 Michigan would be operated by the suburban SMART bus system, while
SMART routes #125 Fort Street-Detroit, #150 Taylor-Detroit (which also operated along Fort St) and the #495 John
R. would now be operated by DDOT.
It had been anticipated that merging the bus lines would save the systems money because service along those
routes were virtually duplicated by DDOT and SMART,...especially in the city of Detroit. According to then SMART
interim general manager and deputy Wayne County Executive Michael Duggan, " ...sometimes SMART and DDOT
buses are traveling bumper to bumper up Jefferson. We're paying for two sets of drivers, two sets of mechanics."
Local officials were also discussing plans for the possible merger of the DDOT and SMART maintenance facilities. If
the pilot program merging the routes proved successful, officials from both agencies next planned to fully merge the
two operations. However, there was a down side. Some off-peak suburban riders who used SMART "Limited" routes
into Detroit found their lines were now local.
Meanwhile, financial problems at SMART had been mounting, and by the arrival of 1994 the agency had approached a
$20 million deficit. This prompted the SMART Board to attempt to seek a dedicated transit tax in 1995 to eliminate the
debt within five years. A 0.33-mil property tax would be asked of suburban voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb
counties.
With a millage campaign now in motion to push support for a suburban transit tax to support suburban bus service
resulted in angry responses from DDOT and city officials. The City had agreed to the route merger plan only if a full-
scale merger of DDOT and SMART came next, which would have required a higher-mil tri-county-wide property tax.
Mayor Archer wanted a larger 0.8-mil tax to be levied in both the city and suburbs to support a merged system.
According to then DDOT Director Albert Martin, in a Detroit Free Press article written during the time, "...DDOT (had)
lost 10,000 daily riders in the joint venture with SMART. ...That translates into an expected loss of nearly $700,000
in fare box revenue by June, the end of the first year."
Because suburban officials decided to seek a tax to continue financing a separate suburban bus system, DDOT
decided to discontinue its nine month long cooperative agreement with SMART. Consequently, another attempt to
merge the city and suburban bus operations resulted in failure.
Effective Saturday, April 1, 1995, DDOT took back the operation of its #25 E. Jefferson and #37
Michigan routes, while SMART resumed operations of its routes along Fort and the #495 John R.
Interestingly, the DDOT Jefferson and Woodward routes were never re-
joined after the joint venture with SMART failed.
in merging the DDOT (city) and SMART (suburban) bus operations. As part of a pilot program, duplicate bus
operations along East Jefferson, Michigan, John R. and Fort would merge, with only one of the agencies providing
service along each route. The SMART system would operate all of the service along Michigan and Jefferson Avenues
, while DDOT would operate all service along Fort Street and John R.
The DDOT routes #25 E. Jefferson and #37 Michigan would be operated by the suburban SMART bus system, while
SMART routes #125 Fort Street-Detroit, #150 Taylor-Detroit (which also operated along Fort St) and the #495 John
R. would now be operated by DDOT.
It had been anticipated that merging the bus lines would save the systems money because service along those
routes were virtually duplicated by DDOT and SMART,...especially in the city of Detroit. According to then SMART
interim general manager and deputy Wayne County Executive Michael Duggan, " ...sometimes SMART and DDOT
buses are traveling bumper to bumper up Jefferson. We're paying for two sets of drivers, two sets of mechanics."
Local officials were also discussing plans for the possible merger of the DDOT and SMART maintenance facilities. If
the pilot program merging the routes proved successful, officials from both agencies next planned to fully merge the
two operations. However, there was a down side. Some off-peak suburban riders who used SMART "Limited" routes
into Detroit found their lines were now local.
Meanwhile, financial problems at SMART had been mounting, and by the arrival of 1994 the agency had approached a
$20 million deficit. This prompted the SMART Board to attempt to seek a dedicated transit tax in 1995 to eliminate the
debt within five years. A 0.33-mil property tax would be asked of suburban voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb
counties.
With a millage campaign now in motion to push support for a suburban transit tax to support suburban bus service
resulted in angry responses from DDOT and city officials. The City had agreed to the route merger plan only if a full-
scale merger of DDOT and SMART came next, which would have required a higher-mil tri-county-wide property tax.
Mayor Archer wanted a larger 0.8-mil tax to be levied in both the city and suburbs to support a merged system.
According to then DDOT Director Albert Martin, in a Detroit Free Press article written during the time, "...DDOT (had)
lost 10,000 daily riders in the joint venture with SMART. ...That translates into an expected loss of nearly $700,000
in fare box revenue by June, the end of the first year."
Because suburban officials decided to seek a tax to continue financing a separate suburban bus system, DDOT
decided to discontinue its nine month long cooperative agreement with SMART. Consequently, another attempt to
merge the city and suburban bus operations resulted in failure.
Effective Saturday, April 1, 1995, DDOT took back the operation of its #25 E. Jefferson and #37
Michigan routes, while SMART resumed operations of its routes along Fort and the #495 John R.
Interestingly, the DDOT Jefferson and Woodward routes were never re-
joined after the joint venture with SMART failed.
© 2007
The former DDOT route #53 Woodward-
John R. was one of the bus routes that
resulted from a rather "short-lived"
cooperative route-swapping venture by
DDOT and SMART, with a possible long-
term goal of eventually merging both
transit systems. Beginning on Saturday,
June 25, 1994, DDOT's recently
combined #97 Woodward-Jefferson
line was discontinued after the Jefferson
portion of that route was taken-over by
SMART. At the same time, the SMART
route #495 John R. became a part of the
DDOT route #53 Woodward line.
This resulted in the Woodward line
having two northern branches to its route,
separating at Woodward and McNichols.
One of the branches would continue
along the regular Woodward route to the
Michigan State Fairgrounds, located near
Woodward and Eight Mile, while the other
operated via the SMART #495 John R.
route to Oakland Mall, located near
Fourteen Mile and John R. The route
destination signs on many of the DDOT
buses were reprogrammed to display the
three-digit #495 route number, which was
used on the Woodward coaches assigned
to the John R. line.
Although things seemed positive at first,
the history behind the demise of this joint
venture is worth taking a look-back. The
following adds a bit of background
information on the brief life of the
Woodward-John R. bus line.
John R. was one of the bus routes that
resulted from a rather "short-lived"
cooperative route-swapping venture by
DDOT and SMART, with a possible long-
term goal of eventually merging both
transit systems. Beginning on Saturday,
June 25, 1994, DDOT's recently
combined #97 Woodward-Jefferson
line was discontinued after the Jefferson
portion of that route was taken-over by
SMART. At the same time, the SMART
route #495 John R. became a part of the
DDOT route #53 Woodward line.
This resulted in the Woodward line
having two northern branches to its route,
separating at Woodward and McNichols.
One of the branches would continue
along the regular Woodward route to the
Michigan State Fairgrounds, located near
Woodward and Eight Mile, while the other
operated via the SMART #495 John R.
route to Oakland Mall, located near
Fourteen Mile and John R. The route
destination signs on many of the DDOT
buses were reprogrammed to display the
three-digit #495 route number, which was
used on the Woodward coaches assigned
to the John R. line.
Although things seemed positive at first,
the history behind the demise of this joint
venture is worth taking a look-back. The
following adds a bit of background
information on the brief life of the
Woodward-John R. bus line.