On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about the extraordinary efforts that culminated with the opening of a new and improved bridge near Edenville.Jack Hofweber, manager of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Mt. Pleasant Transportation Service Center, reflects on the heavy rains and floods that breached dams and ravaged roads and bridges in several counties in 2020, just weeks after many people went into lockdown because of the p...
This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast picks up on themes in a Detroit Free Press story detailing creative efforts by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to stem the proliferation of deer in the state’s southern regions.Ed Golder, public information officer at MDNR, explains the challenges and how wildlife officials are tackling them. This includes some important changes in 2024 hunting regulations.The problem, as outlined in the story:While the state just recentl...
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a follow-up to the previous episode highlighting efforts to protect people and animals with creative wildlife crossings on roads.Amanda Novak, a resource specialist in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Bay Region, helped spearhead the grant application and explains the importance.As laid out in the project abstract for the grant, the number of wildlife vehicle collisions (WVCs) in Michigan continues to increase a...
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, the first installment of two focusing on ways to enhance the safety of animals, and human drivers, with wildlife crossings. In Part I this week, a conversation with Tim Johnson, a landscape connectivity specialist with the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative.Going back some three decades, Canadian transportation and wildlife officials have collaborated on ways to build safe crossings to protect both animals ...
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Detroit News editor and columnist Chad Livengood about his reporting on misperceptions and contradictions surrounding the development of electric vehicle battery production facilities.As his Aug. 31 column observed:All of this transition to electrification is backed by huge government subsidies — just like China does with its auto industry — so the Michigan-based domestic auto industry doesn't move more...
This week’s edition of Talking Michigan Transportation is a reprise of a 2020 conversation with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer about her Rebuilding Michigan plan. Now four years into the program, the Michigan Department of Transportation continues to improve many of the state’s busiest roads and bridges.Key links: http://michigan.gov/RebuildingMI https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/State-of-the-State/2021
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Joann Muller, a Detroit-based reporter for Axios covering all things mobility, talks about electric vehicle (EV) sales, progress on developing charging networks, consumers buying smaller vehicles, and her experience with a new device that converts a conventional bicycle to an e-bike.According to a new report, sales of battery-powered models across America are up compared to the rest of the industry. The boost has been spur...
Despite Michigan’s hands-free driving law being in place for more than a year now, police are still seeing drivers holding their phones or other devices in vehicles. The practice is especially troublesome where road work is going on.On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with a construction engineer facing the challenge of working with contractors to rebuild roads in a timely manner while maintaining mobility for the public. First, Tanya Pawl...
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Troy Hagon. For 16 years, Troy has worked in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Office of Government Affairs, the past six as director.Troy will be leaving MDOT soon to become the deputy director of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Michigan (ACEC).During the conversation, Troy reflects on his work in the Michigan Legislature prior to coming to MDOT. He also recalls some g...
Bridge Michigan reported this week on some troubling statistics in Michigan that show that police are not making as many arrests for drunk driving and crashes caused by impaired driving are on the rise.Among key findings:Drunk driving arrests in Michigan have dropped 28 percent since 2014, while fatal alcohol- and drug-related crashes have risen 40 percent.Experts attribute the rise in crashes to fewer police officers and less traffic enforcement, leading to more dangerous driving behavior.In...
By now, you may have seen a photo taken high above the Detroit River of two iron workers, one from Canada and one from the United States, shaking hands to mark the completion of the deck on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with those iron workers, Jason Huggett of Canada and Casey Whitson of Michigan. Both are second-generation iron workers. Jason’s father helped build the twin span of the Blue Wa...
As road work continues across Michigan, police are on high alert for speeding and distracted drivers causing crashes during backups. On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about efforts engineers take to balance mobility and safety during active road work. Lindsey Renner, division administrator for Construction Field Services at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and a former supervisor of the Work Zone Safety section, explains the chall...
On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Mohammed Alghurabi, a long-time MDOT senior project manager being honored this week by the Engineering Society of Detroit.Alghurabi is best known in recent years for his work in southwest Detroit communities to prepare for building the Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Michigan and Canada. However, he’s also managed other big projects, including the building of the last freeway added to the state trunkline syst...
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Ryan McMahon of Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a Massachusetts-based firm that tracks data from drivers, participating voluntarily, to analyze statistics and driver behavior. McMahon last spoke on the podcast in November, a few months after Michigan Gov. Whitmer signed the law making it illegal to use a hand-held electronic device while driving.The news was less sanguine then, but now his firm is reportin...
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about legislation that would appropriate economic development funds for community-based programs, including public transportation.This week’s guest, Jared Fleisher, who leads government affairs and economic development for Rock (Dan Gilbert’s family of companies), explains why he’s passionate about the proposed bills and their potential to enhance qualify of life across Michigan and attract and retain talent...
On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations about the past, present and future of MDOT’s Transportation Diversity Recruitment Program (TDRP). The 10-week program allows students to work alongside other on-the-job training program participants, internal staff and external professionals who provide engineering, technical, inspection, and project management services for state road and bridge projects. First, James Jackson, who coordinates the program for MDOT, talks abo...
As lawmakers in the Legislature continue negotiations for the state’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget, one addition specific to transportation involves a $5 million appropriation for a pilot program to assess replacing traditional fuel taxes with a mileage-based road usage fee.This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features another conversation with Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy for the Reason Foundation. Feigenbaum has done extensive study on the n...
Note: This episode originally posted on Aug. 14, 2023.On this week’s podcast, Michael J. Coren, the Washington Post’s climate advice columnist, talks about his recent reporting (subscription) on the cost of filling a vehicle’s fuel tank versus charging an electric vehicle (EV) battery. The answer, he explains, is less straightforward than it seems. He writes, “Just calculating the cost of gasoline versus electricity is misleading. Prices vary by charger (and state). Everyone charges...
On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Julie Clark, chief executive officer at the Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails.Clark talks about how she and her family made their way from North Carolina to Traverse City and embraced the northern Michigan outdoors.TART is among many organizations around the state with leaders working with local, state and federal government agencies, as well as foundations and private donors, to grow Michigan’...
Late last month, a Michigan Senate committee advanced legislation to enable the use of automated technology to enforce speeding laws on segments of roads under construction. Pennsylvania became the latest to join dozens of other states employing the technology, with positive results.This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast revisits the issue with conversations with two advocates for safer work zones.First, Rob Coppersmith, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure and...