Robert Cramer is in his first month on the job as Detroit’s executive director of transit. He replaces Michael Staley, who left the role to work in the private sector.

Cramer has spent recent years working as general manager for the People Mover. Speaking after Transit Riders United’s annual State of Transit event on Tuesday, he said his new role with the Department of Transit has a lot in common with his previous work.

Listen: DDOT Executive Director Robert Cramer talks improving service and what’s next for the city’s transit options

“Whether that’s with the People Mover or DDOT, they’re very different systems but they have the same base needs — which is that people want safe reliable service,” Cramer said.

Officials with the Detroit Department of Transit are concerned federal grant funding for alternative energy buses could be at risk under the Trump administration. The city is scheduled to receive money to buy four electric and four hydrogen buses, as part of pilot programs to explore their feasibility.

Cramer says the city will be interested in the technology, no matter what happens to the grants.

“Even if something happens, to chase that funding you know you just keep chopping away, fighting the daily fight, looking for different funding opportunities that might come up,” he said.

Cramer says the city of Detroit is scheduled to receive 45 new battery electric hybrid buses beginning this summer. He says those orders are locked in and won’t be affected by changes in federal policy.

The city of Detroit is providing convenient parking, free transportation and more for the 2025 Detroit Auto Show, taking place now through Jan. 20.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Those attending the show can park at a city parking facility, private garage/lot or street parking meter close to a People Mover station and ride for free to the Huntington Place station.

The People Mover will also be operating earlier on the weekends during the Detroit Auto Show, from 6:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday.

Individuals can also park anywhere along the Woodward Corridor between New Center and downtown and ride the QLine for free and get dropped off two blocks from Huntington Place.

The city is also restricting traffic in certain areas around the auto show,  including on Washington Boulevard, Atwater, Shelby, Bates, Congress, Fort, Griswold, Cass and westbound Jefferson.

For more information about traffic and transportation during the Detroit Auto Show, visit the city of Detroit’s website.

Other headlines for Friday, Jan. 10, 2024:

• The Detroit Auto Show’s co-executive director Sam Klemet spoke with WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter about what to look forward to at this year’s event.
• After a stellar performance against the Minnesota Vikings for the final game of the regular season, the Detroit Lions are 15-2, No. 1 in the division, No. 1 in the NFC conference and No. 1 in the hearts of passionate Detroit Lions fans.
• Grammy nominated and Soul Train Award winner Chanté Moore is gracing the stage of Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel on Friday, Jan. 17.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.