The Detroit Department of Transportation released surveillance footage on Nov. 12, 2026, showing two riders boarding a city bus with live horses in tow.
Footage provided to the Detroit Free Press captures the bus driver chuckling and lowering the front wheelchair ramp as the animal owners guide the horses through the entrance. “If he can get in here, it is what it is,” a chuckling bus driver is heard saying in the footage provided to the Detroit Free Press, while a passenger observes the scene before the owners promptly exit through another door.
The incident gained public attention after a bystander, Ellessia Drew, shared a separate video filmed outside the vehicle at Seven Mile Road and Strasburg Street on a Monday, according to municipal reports. City officials confirmed the authenticity of the recording and launched an internal review into transit operations.
City officials addressed the transit breach through an official statement, announcing mandatory staff training across the department. Alexis Ware, deputy director of media relations for the mayor’s office, explained that DDOT officials spoke with the bus driver regarding the policies.
“We recognize that the actions in the video were meant to draw awareness to a positive cause. Furthermore, the statement said that this created safety risks for the horses themselves as well as for other riders using public transportation,” the statement said.
The transit agency reiterated that while service animals complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act are permitted on buses, the horses were apparently brought on the bus for other reasons. Officials said that service animals must be individually trained to assist individuals with disabilities and remain under control on the floor or a passenger’s lap without occupying seats.
The owners brought the animals onto the vehicle briefly to draw awareness to a positive cause before exiting through a separate door without staying for a ride.
Representatives from DDOT conferred with the operator concerning the event and said that all personnel throughout the division will undergo instruction to guarantee they are familiar with the various regulations.
The outside recording was filmed by Ellessia Drew at the intersection of Seven Mile Road and Strasburg Street in Detroit.
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