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Meanwhile, in 1957, express service was added to the Woodward line, but this new service did not operate along an expressway. Sporting checkered black-and-white flags, the Woodward Express began operations on Oct. 14, 1957, and followed the local route — but began its non-stop express operation at Tuxedo with one stop at Grand Blvd. On Nov. 5, 1962, a similar express service began with the launching of the "Gratiot Express" line, which also followed the local route and began its express service to downtown at Outer Drive with one stop at Grand Blvd.
One of the last express routes added under the DSR was actually a second express route added to the Plymouth line. On July 20, 1964, the Plymouth Express (via Grand River) was launched. It operated via Plymouth from Middlebelt Road to Grand River, and then express operation via Grand River with one stop at Grand Blvd.
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Meanwhile, during the mid-1950s, construction on both the John C. Lodge and Edsel B. Ford Expressways would help to launch an aggressive DSR campaign to win back some of its lost post-war ridership by providing so-called "rapid transit" bus service. This type of service would attempt to use expressway buses that would operate along both of the city's newly constructed expressways.
Even prior to the completion of the John C. Lodge Expressway, the Hamilton Express route had already become the DSR's first express route to operate along an expressway, after its coaches were routed onto a short half-mile completed stretch of the Lodge, that began on Monday, Dec. 4, 1950. As new segments of the Lodge opened, the route was extended further south: to Grand River on May 1, 1953, and finally to Bagley on Sept. 24, 1954. However, it wasn't until the first three Ford-Lodge Interchange connecting ramps opened on Jan. 18, 1955, that more of these express buses would begin to utilize the city's newly built expressways to transport passengers into downtown.
Stops at two special "rapid transit" loading stations incorporated into the Ford Expressway, at both Livernois and Grand River, were also included along the route. The buses would then whisk passengers along the expressway to the new Ford-Lodge Interchange, where the coaches would enter the Lodge Expressway to continue the inbound trip into downtown Detroit. (see video clip below)
However, effective Monday, Nov. 21, 1955, the Plymouth Express routing via Wyoming, McGraw, and the Ford and Lodge Expressways was reassigned to the new Joy Road Express route, while Plymouth Express coaches were instead rerouted further east along the entire Plymouth local route. Its express buses now entered the Lodge Expressway at Webb.
In an energetic attempt to provide its riders with "rapid transit" service through the use of expressway express buses, additional expressway routes were launched as more segments of the expressways were completed. By late February 1955, the Ford and the Lodge Expressways were being used by both the Dexter and Grand River Express routes — with both lines now entering the Ford via Maybury Grand (just west of Grand River). But this new expressway routing for both routes was later discontinued by late 1956, after not proving to be much faster than the previous street-level express bus service.
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| THE HISTORY OF D.S.R. EXPRESSWAY BUS OPERATION IN DETROIT (The Motor City's answer to "Rapid Transit") |
into Town" (May 27, 1958), The Detroit News article "DSR Riders Gripe, Some May Boycott Expresses" (May 26, 1958), Detroit's DSR, Part 3 by Jack E.
Schramm (May-June 1993 MCA), and other numerous sources. Express bus route's effective dates courtesy of "DSR BUS ROUTES, 1945-1975" (May-June 1993
edition of Motor Coach Age magazine).
Virtual Motor City Collection photo #28899 used by permission of the Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.
All rights, including those of further reproduction and/or publication, are reserved in full by the Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University. Photographic
reproductions may be protected by U.S. copyright law (U.S. Title 17). The user is fully responsible for copyright infringement.
| For Comments & Suggestions Please Contact Site Owner at: admin@detroittransithistory.info |
| During the 1950s, the DSR — along with proponents from the rubber-tired transportation industry — would promote the DSR's new expressway buses as "a superior type of rapid transit." (GM photo courtesy of Tom's Trolley Bus Pictures--Detroit) |
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Although expressway bus service had been heavily promoted by the DSR during the years following WW-II as a faster, more economical alternative to building light rail lines within the city's expressway grid, it soon proved to be more of a headache than an alternative. Since proposed "bus only" freeway lanes were never built, buses were often delayed in traffic tie-ups along the expressways. The few "rapid transit" passenger boarding stations that were built along the Ford Expressway were rarely used, and the push toward adding additional "rapid transit" bus routes across the expressway system diminished as the ridership numbers never materialized.
Even though the Joy Road Express buses would continue to use the Ford and Lodge Freeways for some years, that service too was eventually withdrawn. Freeway operation for the Joy Road Express was discontinued, and its buses were rerouted into downtown via Michigan Avenue, effective Oct. 3, 1965.
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This new expressway bus route would operate along the John Lodge Expressway and the connecting James Couzens Highway to W. Seven Mile and Inkster roads. It would be considered the "de luxe" of all DSR express bus service. As a result, this new route would be called the "IMPERIAL NORTHWEST EXPRESS." Although not the first DSR express route to utilize the city's new expressway system, it was by far the longest.
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Down through the years only a limited number of express routes have operated along the Detroit freeway system. While the Fenkell, Hamilton, Imperial and Plymouth Express buses would continue to use the Lodge Freeway, the Second Blvd. and the John R.-Oakland Express buses would begin using the recently completed Walter P. Chrysler (I-75) Freeway. The John R.-Oakland Express (renamed Oakland Express in 1973) began using I-75 on June 20, 1969, while the Second (W. McNichols) Express began its freeway operation on Jan. 17, 1972.
Perhaps the most unusual express route of them all was the DDOT Route #71, Crosstown Express (via West Warren Ave), which traveled via West Warren and Grand River during the morning rush, but would use the I-375, I-75 and I-96 freeways to West Warren Avenue on its evening return trip to Rouge Park.
During the late seventies, when the city's express bus era was coming to a close, as many as twenty express routes were still in operation. Only seven of these routes, however, operated over the city's freeways. By the year 2007, only three regular DDOT "Limited" bus routes remained, with only two routes — the Imperial Limited and the Plymouth (local) — operating over the city's freeway system. They would become the last two remaining reminders of what was once promoted to be the city's most economically feasible alternative to building mass transit.
When the Imperial "Limited" route was discontinued by DDOT in March of 2012, sixty-two years of expressway bus operation in Detroit had come to an end.
- IMPERIAL EXPRESS (LIMITED)
EDSEL FORD (I-94) EXPRESSWAY BUS STOPS
| During the mid-1950s, the GMC Truck & Coach Division of General Motors produced a promotional film promoting the use of motor buses on city expressways, with the primary focus, of course, on the use of GM diesels. The film was entitled "Let's Go To Town." One of the cities featured in this presentation was the city of Detroit. A few excerpts from that GM film, produced in 1955, are featured in our video clip, which looks at how the DSR's new Plymouth Express service made use of Detroit's new expressway system. |
| Video-clip duration: 02:14 |
| (video added 07/22/08) |
| VIDEO: D.S.R. PLYMOUTH EXPRESS SERVICE |
| The original Plymouth Express route operated via Plymouth, Wyoming, McGraw, Wier, Edsel Ford Expressway, John Lodge Expressway, Bagley, Cass, and State to Washington Blvd. |
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| (Photo source: 1958 DSR Annual Report – Courtesy of the Stan Sycko Collection) |
| This 1955 photo looks north along the John C. Lodge Expressway at the Edsel B. Ford Expressway Interchange. During the 1950s and '60s a number of DSR express routes began using the city's new expressways into and out of the downtown area. (Photo source: 1955 DSR Annual Report – Courtesy of the Stan Sycko Collection) |
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| The unique website which takes a detailed look back at the History of Public Transportation in and around the City of Detroit. |
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| When the first completed portion of the John C. Lodge Expressway opened along a six-tenths of a mile section between Holden and Pallister, the Hamilton Express would become the first DSR bus route to operate along a Detroit expressway. The above photo — taken on Monday, December 4, 1950 — shows a southbound Hamilton Express bus operating on its first day of expressway service. A New York Central "steam-engine" locomotive can also be seen using the railroad overpass just north of Holden Street. (Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University photo #28899 — used with permission) |
As of Sept. 13, 1954, express buses were operating on the following DSR bus routes...
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Seated on board that inaugural bus was Detroit Mayor Louis C. Miriani; members of the Detroit Street Railway Commission; general manager of the DSR Leo J. Nowicki; a group of northwest-side businessmen; and other civic leaders. In addition to the Miss DSR (May) passing out free doughnuts, milk and orange juice to all the passengers, that first bus on the Seven Mile Road "De Luxe" express line was even laid-out with thick, red carpeting covering the floor and steps.
During the first two days of operation, bus rides on the new express line were free. Pretty young bus hostesses with "Hello" name tags passed out milk, fruit juice, doughnuts, potato chips and chewing gum, and "smiled sweetly" as they greeted the over 5,500 Detroiters who tried out the new service.
The new Seven Mile Road express would become the DSR's longest express line, with one round trip covering 35 miles. The buses traveled along W. Seven Mile Road from Inkster Road; then along the scenic James Couzens Highway that merged into the recently completed John Lodge Expressway; terminating at the City-County Building downtown — all in less than 55 minutes!
The DSR promised that the service from the end of the line to downtown Detroit would be 20 minutes faster than previous local service. Coaches would operate daily, every 10 minutes during the rush hours and every 30 minutes the rest of the day.
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| (Reformatted 10-12-14) |