Budget Cutting in Local Govt

Detroit cost-cutting plan for buses reduces mechanics, merges routes
1:06 AM, Jan. 30, 2011 |


By JOHN WISELY
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
FILED UNDER
Local News
Michigan

Each weekday, about 125,000 people ride Detroit buses. Nearly one in four buses is out of service, city officials say. / WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press

Detroit's bus system has too many routes, too many mechanics and can't account for nearly a quarter of its fare box revenue -- up to $9 million a year, according to city officials looking for ways to cut costs.

The bleak picture of the system, which moves about 125,000 people each weekday, is spelled out in a plan Detroit filed in November with the state to explain how it will attack a $76-million deficit in the city's public transit fund.

The plan said about 100 of the city's 445 buses are out of service, even though there is one mechanic for every 2.5 buses -- more mechanics than many other cities and Detroit's suburban bus counterpart, SMART. A union official said the city does not keep motors and transmissions in stock to allow mechanics to keep the buses running.

The plan calls for consolidating routes, reducing the number of mechanics and getting more riders to use prepaid debit-style cards to reduce the need to handle cash.

"Obviously, we're looking at a lot of efficiencies and a lot of improvements," said Dan Lijana, spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing.

Megan Owens, executive director of Transportation Riders United, said she fears more cuts could leave people stranded.

"They've already cut about one-third of the service over the past five years," she said.

Detroit buses lag on routine maintenance, report says

Detroit's bus mechanics have a relatively light workload compared with other transit systems, but they fail to perform routine maintenance, and that keeps about a quarter of city buses from running on any given day, according to a city report.

Mechanics acknowledge that roughly 100 buses sit idle without motors or transmissions, but attribute high costs to poor management and the excessive use of outside vendors to do repair work.

"The men are there and doing the work," said Leamon Wilson, president of AFSCME Local 312, which represents about 160 mechanics and 165 other department employees. "They take pride in their job and they are working the best they can with what they've got."