100 Years of Detroit Transit
DDOT and its predecessor, the Department of Street Railways, has used many iterations of trolleys and buses over the years. It still has in its collection several trolleys that were used decades ago.
Among the earliest trolleys in the DDOT collection features a hand-painted sign for fare of 25 cents.
Another historic trolley features a hand-painted sign advertising 45 cent fare. The portion of the trolley that was painted over for the new fare is clearly visible.
Another of the early trolleys in the DDOT collection.
The Russell Route as it was put into place in 1940, and updated multiple times since. Early schedules were hand-sketched and total route length was determined by hand.
The older trolleys that once ran as DSR vehicles have manually operated doors and other features.
The exterior of one of the historic trolleys in the current DDOT collection.
The interior of the earlier trolleys featured bench seating along the walls, with handles for riders at the center of the coaches.
In 1937, street car mileage logs were kept by hand on grid paper. Mileage was reconciled and calculated manually.
DDOT has in its collection a "silverside" bus, part of the fleet when the organization was still the Department of Street Railways.
Silverside interior
In 1964, 25 cents could take riders from the State Fairgrounds to the Hazel Park Race Track.
1963 - List of streets in Highland Park on which DSR coaches were approved to travel.
Several DSR routes stopped on the Ford property from 1944 onward.
Inventory of coaches in service as of Dec. 31, 1972. Both diesel and gas vehicles were on the roads.
A hand-drawn commuter Amtrak / DOT shuttle dated 1978. Slightly different routes were used for morning and afternoon to accommodate commuter traffic.
Early bus operator pins, with a previous DOT logo, before it became known as DDOT.
A mini bus shuttle service connected New Center, the University Cultural Center, and the Medical Center, in 1980.
