DETROIT (WWJ) -- The city of Detroit will be making some big changes to bus routes beginning next month.
Some routes are being cut temporarily, while the frequency of others will be restructured or shortened.
Mikel Oglesby, the Executive Director of the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT), says administrators are taking comments and gathering information on how to make the bus system as efficient as possible.
"20% of all DDOT bus services are actually being missed," Oglesby said. "Buses are showing up randomly and riders have to wait outside for for hours. In response to this, we're taking the amount of service that actually goes out on the street each day and reorganizing it into schedules that DDOT can constantly and reliably deliver."
City officials say ridership declined by around 50% during the pandemic, and the routes being cut or curtailed are ones that haven’t been getting much use.
Oglesby says they are looking to hire 90 bus drivers and 50 mechanics.
The first round of temporary changes to the routes is expected to start November 15.
Routes could shift again as drivers are hired and ridership increases. The changes are expected to remain in effect until early 2022.
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