Skip to main content

Detroit transit authorities offer unified fare system for buses

The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDoT) has partnered with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) to launch a unified payment system for the US region’s buses. Detroit’s mayor Mike Duggan says: “Dart will bring our two systems closer together with seamless transfers and more flexible payments making riding transit easier for everyone.” According to the mayor’s office, riders can take unlimited rides on both systems as each pass starts on the first use for the time
May 3, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDoT) has partnered with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) to launch a unified payment system for the US region’s buses.


Detroit’s mayor Mike Duggan says: “Dart will bring our two systems closer together with seamless transfers and more flexible payments making riding transit easier for everyone.”

According to the mayor’s office, riders can take unlimited rides on both systems as each pass starts on the first use for the time period allotted. Regional passes are available for reduced fare riders – seniors, people with disabilities, Medicare cardholders and young people. A Dart mobile app will allow riders to pay for travel from this summer.

Warren C. Evans, Wayne County executive, says: “Under the current system, transfers can be confusing and intimidating. Relieving that headache encourages ridership which is important to improving mobility and increasing transit options.”

Under the new system, riders purchase the following Dart passes:

  • Four-hour regional with unlimited transfers between DDoT and SMART for $2, with a reduced fare price of 50 cents for qualified riders.
  • 24-hour regional with unlimited transfers between DDoT and SMART for $5, with a reduced price of $2.
  • Seven-day regional for $22, with a reduced price of $10.
  • 31-day regional, good for unlimited rides on both systems, for $70, with a reduced price of $29. The 31-day pass will also feature a tap to pay option for easier boarding.


The four-hour and 24-hour Dart passes will be available for purchase on SMART and DDOT vehicles. All passes will be available through SMART/DDoT centres, select retail outlets, online or by post.

Related Content

  • Venkat Sumantran: ‘Smart cities are more hype than reality’
    November 23, 2018
    For all the talk of smart cities, investment in systems lags significantly behind organic expansion in most places. Andrew Stone talks to Venkat Sumantran, who has been looking at how to create a coherent framework which could help authorities answer multiple mobility questions Two megatrends are posing unprecedented challenges to those trying to keep people moving around the world’s urban areas now - and in the years and decades to come. The first is rapid urbanisation. One in six of us lived in urban a
  • Fara to develop travel app in Sweden
    July 5, 2018
    Technology company Fara says it will develop a travel app for one million people living in four southern counties of Sweden. The system will include features such as travel planning, map information, ticket purchasing and allow users to book on-call transportation. The app will be created over the next four years and will be available to residents living in Kalmar Länstrafik, Hallandstrafiken, Jönköpings Länstrafik and Länstrafiken Kronoberg. Ørjan Kirkefjord, managing director of Fara, says the app will
  • Dutch strike public/private balance to introduce C-ITS services
    November 15, 2017
    Connected-ITS applications are due to appear on a nation-wide scale this summer, through the Netherlands’ Talking Traffic Partnership – if all goes to plan. Jon Masters reports. The Netherlands’ Talking Traffic Partnership (TTP) looks almost too good to be true: an artificial market set up and supported by national, regional and local government to accelerate deployment of Connected ITS (C-ITS) applications. If it does have any serious flaws, these are going to become apparent quite soon, because the first
  • Houston’s Metro opts for Init upgrade
    November 24, 2022
    New contract will guarantee ease of travel for riders who do not use electronic payment