Detroit bus drivers report being bitten by hitchhiking bed bugs

DETROIT (WXYZ) - They are "notorious little buggers" says Brian Miller, Vice President of the Detroit bus drivers' union. Miller talked with 7 Action News about the bed bugs that he says have boarded some city buses and bitten about a dozen drivers in the past six months.

The heads of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26 AFL-CIO are hoping Detroit City Council and health officials will join them in urging DDOT management to be more proactive in tackling the bed bug issue.

Ron Freeland, CEO of Detroit Department of Transit (DDOT), says while they have detected bed bugs, "We don't consider it to be a widespread problem. If it becomes a widespread problem, we will deal with it on that basis."

Freeland says they have treated some buses with heat by running them through the paint booth in hopes of killing any bed bugs.

But some pest control experts doubt the effectiveness of the paint booth as a remedy, questioning the even distribution of heat.

"What we do need to put in place is a process by which we can maintain and manage the level of infestation," says Miller. "We're not just here for us as employees. We are also here for the general public."