Documenters on the Bus (Special Assignment!) — Week 1

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Assignment dates: anytime during the week of Oct 24-30

Introduction:
Welcome to Outlier Media’s first ever Documenters on the Bus! Detroit might be the Motor City, but plenty of residents need to rely on public transportation to get to where they need to be.

This assignment will put Documenters on DDOT and SMART buses. Around 800,000 people ride DDOT buses each month, and their 37 routes stretch all across the city (a few even make stops in Dearborn). SMART buses also travel within the city and connect Detroit with Macomb and parts of Oakland and Wayne counties.

This assignment will use a public transit journey to gain firsthand knowledge about the state of public transit in Detroit today and connect you with the experts — residents using the service every day.

An assignment checklist will help you keep track of everything that happens on your trip. Think of a Documenters meeting checklist, but all things buses!

Instructions:
For this assignment you will spend four hours getting to, waiting for, and riding public transportation in Detroit. You’ll need to research your route before and compile your notes afterwards, so Documenters will be paid a $150 flat rate for completing this assignment. The day and time of travel are entirely up to you, as are your start and end points.

You will be given a Documenters on the Bus Toolkit with a bus pass and all the resources and information you’ll need to guide you through this journey and gather information we can all use to make Detroit’s public transportation more valuable and accountable.

When your trip is complete, you will submit all your documentation and a written report of your experience in a set of notes, just as you would a regular meeting assignment.

Your written notes and complete documentation must be submitted by Monday, Oct. 31.

We will schedule five Documenters to this assignment for week 1, and another five for week 2. Along your journey you will score points for different actions. Prizes will be awarded to the top-scoring Documenter each week.

As always, we want to create an accurate record. It’s as important to record an on-time arrival and a helpful driver as it is to make note of a missing bus shelter or a long wait.

A complete set of details and instructions will be provided once you are assigned.