Talking Michigan Transportation

Annual numbers are out from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the rate of fatal crashes on our nation’s roads continued to trend in the right direction in 2025.  That was true in Michigan as well following 2020 and 2021 when the number of fatal crashes spiked during the earliest months of the pandemic as law enforcement agencies observed people driving at much higher speeds an...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, questions and explanations about the increasing frequency of melting ice falling from the Mackinac Bridge cables, creating hazards for motorists and the need to close the bridge for many hours at a time. This video illustrates the danger.  First, Joe Shampine, maintenance supervisor for the Mackinac Bridge Authority, talks about the dangers t...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Ben Stupka , executive director of the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) of Southeast Michigan. After nearly four decades of on-again, off-again discussions, Public Act 387 of 2012 established the RTA. Stupka talks about leading the funding, planning and coordination for all public transit systems across the...

Michigan’s State Transportation Commission (STC) approved a fifth amending bonding resolution under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan Program , focused on rebuilding state highways and bridges that are critical to the state’s economy and carry the most traffic. On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Patrick McCarthy, director of finance at the Michigan Department of Tran...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation, conversations about automaker efforts to bring down the cost of electric vehicles (EVs), the impact of the EV pullback on the South and trends in safety. Joann Muller, the transportation correspondent at Axios and author of their weekly Future of Mobility newsletter, joined the podcast to talk about those issues and more. Some key topics: ·       For...

As road agencies across the state prepare for the 2026 road and bridge construction season, this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast is a reprise of an August 2025 episode that focused on jobs tied to road and bridge building. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent a letter Aug. 7, 2025, to the directors of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Michigan Department of Labor and Ec...

On this week’s episode of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations about Michigan’s study and eventual pilot of a road user charge (RUC) system of funding roads and bridges and what is going on in other states and countries. First, Barbara Rohde, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA) , talks about her organization’s history and t...

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 a...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Mike Hayes, a former Midland lawmaker who is stepping down from the State Transportation Commission (STC) after 14 years of service, the past two as chairman. Hayes was a business executive who has been active in community affairs for many years and served in the Michigan House of Representatives. He talks about how his ba...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with the new chief administrative officer at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) about his role and his first big challenge, overseeing a legislatively mandated study and pilot of a road user charge (RUC) program. Paul McDonald joined the department in November, coming from the Michigan Department of Environment, G...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations about the vital message to drive to the conditions , especially during winter storms. First, Michigan State Police 1st Lt. Michael Shaw offers his insights on the causes of multi-vehicle crashes like the one that occurred between Hudsonville and Zeeland in Ottawa County on I-196 Monday, Jan. 19. Later, Bruce Smith...

Surface transportation reauthorization is the regular federal legislative process to renew and fund U.S. transportation programs for highways, transit, rail and safety, setting policies and priorities for billions in spending, with the current major authorization (part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ) set to expire Sept. 30, 2026, prompting ongoing discussions for the next bill.  On...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Peter Anastor, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Office of Rail, about where things stand for passenger rail service at Michigan Central in Detroit.  Anastor also offers an update on plans to link passenger rail service in Michigan with service in Canada and create a link between C...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about key road, bridge and rail projects completed across the state. Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Director Bradley C. Wieferich joined the conversation to talk about details of projects highlighted in MDOT's year-end video . Many were made possible by Gov. Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan program while others...

Laura Mester, who has served as the chief administrative officer at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) since 2011, is retiring from state government in January. She joined the podcast to reflect on her career in state government, including the past 15 years at MDOT.  Mester talks about her perceptions of the department before she joined, and what she learned about the need for a mult...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about a new study that confirms that flashing LED lights, used strategically, can improve safety on curves. The study is part of a larger project looking for effective speed warning technologies, said Timothy Gates, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan State University, who talked about...

In the second installment of podcasts focusing on significant road and bridge project completions by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), conversations about a new roundabout on busy routes near Traverse City and a new bridge over I-96 in Walker. First, Jeff Shaw, supervisor of Elmwood Township in Leelanau County, talks about what the roundabout means for traffic flow in the area, saf...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations about celebrations of major road and bridge projects completed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in communities across the state. This week, a focus on the expansion of the U.S. 131 interchange with the U.S. 131 Business Route that links the freeway with downtown Kalamazoo. Jill Bland, executive vice president...

Public transportation advocates in Michigan are especially excited about components in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget that provide additional funding to transit agencies across the state. State Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor, a co-chairman of the Legislature’s transit caucus, touted it as an unprecedented investment. "This is the largest increase in public transit funding in Michigan's hist...

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has proposed administrative rules to provide guidance on the use of properties it maintains throughout the state. The proposed rules would improve safety and maintenance, and apply to all of Michigan's 61 rest areas, 82 roadside parks, 267 carpool lots, 23 scenic turnouts and 14 Welcome Centers. Greg Losch, head engineer for MDOT's Univers...

Michigan Central, opened in Detroit in 1913 and designed by the same architects as New York's Grand Central Terminal, was a towering landmark and the tallest train station in the world at the time. It was a symbol of the city’s industrial might and later, sadly, became a symbol of blight instead. Now, through the vision of Ford Motor Co. officials and others, it is a symbol again, this time o...

With Michigan’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget agreement now signed into law, this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast focuses on a long-discussed pilot project for a road usage charge (RUC) system, which received funding. First, State Sen. Veronica Klinefelt of Eastpointe, who chairs the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee and has been a strong advocate for studyi...

As lawmakers complete a Fiscal Year 2026 budget agreement, one component involves removing the sales tax on fuel and adding a commensurate amount to the fuel tax and putting it toward transportation. This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast revisits a 2024 conversation with a veteran Michigan pollster about his survey then showing an overwhelming number of voters want the taxes they pay...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, news that a federal grant will allow for the study of wildlife crossings to protect motorists and animals alike. Amanda Novak, a resource specialist at the Michigan Department of Transportation who helped lead the effort to secure the grant, returns to explain the benefits. The grant award comes at a good time as State Farm released an annual...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about the Michigan State Police (MSP) deploying added enforcement in freeway work zones. MC Lt. Jason Zylstra of MSP’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division (CVED) explains why they launched special enforcement in segments with major work like the heavily traveled I-96 in Ionia County . MSP observes that 97 percent of at-faul...