For our second challenge of the 2024-2025 program year, we partnered with the Detroit People Mover (DPM), an enhanced public transit service which provides transportation that affects not only the image of the city but also plays a role in the attraction of conventions and tourism, businesses and entertainment to downtown Detroit. Teams of Fellows created recommendations and tangible work products to build awareness about and increase new ridership by Detroit residents. Fellows worked alongside Detroit People Mover staff – Robert Cramer, Madonna VanFossen, Ericka Alexander, Tony Vinson, Chrishaun Stanton and Tiauna West – as well as engaged with stakeholders from across Detroit neighborhoods. Learn more about the project from the Fellow perspective!
Comunity Group Ridership Engagement Team
Throughout this project, we learned so much about how public transit impacts Detroit residents. We were grateful to work with the Detroit People Mover team and met so many community leaders and stakeholders that gave insights into how we could improve connections to downtown for Detroit residents. We hoped to help people feel that the People Mover is there for them. We had the opportunity to speak to Keith Butler, Deputy District Manager of District 5, who said that “Most people want to see good, and want to do good, they just don’t know how to start.” Community organizations want to be involved and connect with different parts of the city, they just may not be aware of all of the modes to do so.
Fellow Team (L to R): Jessica Aho, Nia Goins, Jacob Diroff, Mandolyn Hanson, Maya Morse, Reem Rizk
After analyzing what stakeholders shared with us, we realized that we had to strengthen people’s connection to downtown by connecting to community groups. It was a pleasure to work with the People Mover staff to help give them the tools to make those connections. Our team worked super well together to create deliverables such as a community partner dashboard, community newsletter, outreach email templates, and much more.
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