In existence since , DDOT is a division of the city government , headed by a director appointed by the mayor. In , the system had a ridership of 11,,, or about 43, per weekday as of the third quarter of At the height of its operation in , the DSR operated 20 streetcar lines with streetcars. Streetcar services was discontinued in April with the decommissioning of the Woodward line.
Between and , the system's seven remaining limited and express bus routes 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, and 78 were discontinued. Dan Dirks was appointed director of the department by mayor Mike Duggan on January 9, , for the duration of MV Transportation's contract. On January 23, , DDOT reintroduced hour service on three principal routes along with other smaller service changes.
The existing routes numbered 7, 9, and 10 were given higher route numbers to avoid conflict. In the summer of , DDOT announced DDOT Reimagined, a project to redesign the agency's route network and upgrade its infrastructure for better reliability, better coverage, more efficient travel, and reduced environmental impact.
The plan's first phase, conducted that summer, consisted of public outreach to gather riders' input, through in-person and virtual meetings, workshops and pop-ups at popular bus stops. Other routes would be rerouted, with some seeing extensions: of note was a proposed extension of route 17 into Livonia , a neighboring community which opts out of the suburban SMART system.
The agency conducted another series of outreach events to gauge riders' opinion, with a mobile exhibit, inside a converted bus, making a two-month tour of the system's major hubs. Mikel Oglesby, resigned. Most of the draft plan was kept, though public input influenced a couple of major changes: route 2 was added to the routes slated for service every 10 minutes, route 12 is no longer slated for discontinuation, and the extension of route 17 into Livonia was cancelled.
