Well past municipal bankruptcy and recession years, Detroit is making significant progress in its recovery, alongside automotive OEMs and suppliers that also overcame financial woes to refuel the Motor City with jobs, innovation and community partnership.
Downtown is buzzing with new business booming and old neighborhoods gentrifying. Construction is fully underway on more housing units, a brand new hockey stadium and the M1 rail trolley that will run a few miles up historic Woodward Avenue, the country’s first concrete roadway that connects urban and suburban neighborhoods.
Despite putting the nation on wheels, Detroit has the highest cost of vehicle ownership when figuring in taxes, insurance and fuel. As a result, 25 percent of the city’s households don’t own a vehicle. Without public transportation on the scale of New York, Chicago or San Francisco, Detroit also is the only major urban area without a transit network that effectively connects residents with employers and schools.
“One of the worst things the city ever did was cut its bus service because it cut people off from their ability to get to a job,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a press release announcing the expansion of city bus routes by the new year.
Separately, local voters rejected a property tax hike on Nov. 8 to provide $4.6 billion for funding a new mass transit system for the Regional Transit Authority of Southeastern Michigan. Despite the opposition, the proposal signals a master plan to eventually create a 21st century transportation ecosystem with rapid buses and rail lines spanning across four counties.
Amid all these developments, or lack there of, yellow bus transportation in Detroit is the farthest along in mobilizing the city’s youth.
Moving and Shaking
The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) sold its bus fleet and fully outsourced transportation in 2010, shortly after Michigan displaced the elected Detroit School Board with an emergency manager to address academic issues and the district’s $700-million deficit. By day one of the 2016-17 academic year, the state’s largest education system received a controversial $617-million state-aid package to reform education for about 47,000 students attending 100 facilities.
“We’ve weathered the storm of financial pressures, school closures and changing educational mandates. Our greatest achievement comes everyday when we can pickup students on time and deliver them safely to their destination,” said Brian Flaggs, general manager at ABC Student Transportation, one of the district’s longest running bus contractors.
The privatization of the Detroit’s public school system spawned opportunity for regional transportation businesses, which in turn sparked entrepreneurship, job creation and collaboration with leading automotive companies within close proximity.
The school district now maintains an annual budget of $30 million to transport nearly 15,000 students on 370 routes, driven by four yellow bus vendors and five small vehicle companies, including taxicabs. Through this entire combination, Detroit students now ride aboard school buses that are equipped with the latest technology for cleaner emissions, operational efficiency and safety.
Geared Up for Anything
District contracts prompted bus operators to invest in GPS systems, two-way radios and surveillance cameras, some of the latter with multi-point high-definition. The transportation team formed an electronic call center ticketing process to track concerns bus contractors need to address. School closures are communicated first to bus vendors, even before local news stations.
The team already has maneuvered around academic disruption, ranging from snow days to crime to teacher sick out days. For onboard safety, the district and contractors created a bus safety program and rallies at schools with misconduct on their routes.
“We remind students that the school bus is an extension of school and that the district’s code of conduct applies to them on the bus,” said DPSCD Executive Director of Student Transportation James Minnick about the school safety rallies. “We would ask the students how the ride to school was that morning, and if there were any problems. After the responses, we would then show a recording of the actually bus ride. At which time, we could point out of how students should act on the bus, and those who were out-of-order.”
The district said that the combined safety efforts have reduced incidents on buses by 10 percent and allowed operators to reduce insurance and seat replacements.
Clean Machines
By combining the strength of local contractors and automotive suppliers, Detroit scored the largest fleet of propane autogas school buses in Michigan. Not only does the fuel reduce Detroit’s carbon footprint, lower maintenance costs and increase bus fleet value, it provides opportunities for students and the community to learn first-hand about alternative fuel technologies.
Namely, ROUSH CleanTech seized the opportunity to work with contractors in converting Detroit’s fleet from diesel to propane autogas. Today, ABC Student Transportation has 60 percent of its 130 Detroit buses running on propane, with a goal of 100 percent conversion within two years.
With 80 vehicles dedicated to DPSCD routes through 2020, Safeway Transportation also invested significantly in Blue Bird propane-powered school buses. The company added 50 eco-friendly buses to its existing fleet and is planning to go 100 percent green.
The newest contractor for the district is Trinity Transportation, which now services more than 100 routes with approximately 150 vehicles. The company invested a substantial amount of capital into alternative fuel vehicles, replacing more than half of its fleet with clean burning diesel engines. Additionally, Trinity Transportation is partnering with Roush Engineering in a pilot program to identify successful gains in renewable energy.
Building Workforce Families
Still, there’s concern centered around employment when Detroit completely outsourced school transportation. But with an entrepreneurial spirit, DPSCD bus contractors said they bolstered local hiring, and even absorbed some of the displaced drivers.
Upon winning a contract to transport special needs students four decades ago, a group of taxicab owners formed Safeway Transportation. The business hired 100 employees, and now with a long-term agreement with Detroit schools, the staff will grow with 30 more Detroit-based positions.
“We are a family that comes together on a daily basis to give our very best for the Detroit community we are all so fond of. We make sure our drivers feel supported and have access to continuing education within the transportation industry. We provide upward mobility opportunities for those who show an interest,” said Safeway Transportation President Patricia Whitlow.
Detroit schools also gave ABC Transportation the fuel it needed to flourish as a small business. It attracts drivers with no experience and puts them through rigorous training, and then provides 40 hours of ongoing professional training through the year.
“ABC enjoys a 96-percent retention rate by valuing and respecting the contribution of all employees,” Flaggs said. “We pride ourselves on a clean, safe, positive and professional work environment.”
After landing its contract with DPSCD last year, Trinity Transportation hired more than 200 bus drivers for services out of its two Detroit-area terminals. It attracted candidates with competitive wages, benefits, monthly training and a family filled environment with perks, like Thanksgiving turkey bonuses.
While the company serves more than 100 school districts in Southeast Michigan and Northern Ohio, adding Detroit schools to its roster was special achievement.
“Receiving praise from the community as well as key members from Detroit Public Schools Community District was a reward for the hard work we have been committing to the district,” said Austin Arksey, chief operating officer of Trinity Transportation.
Editor’s Note: Reprinted from the November 2016 edition of School Transportation News.
