Talking Michigan Transportation

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about revisiting the state’s Complete Streets policy , adopted by the State Transportation Commission in 2012. Amy Matisoff, whose duties include strategic alignment and outreach for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), explains why she’s spearheading a survey of Michigan residents to get feedback on...

You may have heard about the federal government’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, funded in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law at $1 billion a year for five years. Michigan was fortunate to receive $110 million of those funds. On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Steve Minton, an innovative contracts project manager at the Michigan Department of Tran...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a veteran Michigan pollster discusses a recent survey of active and likely November general election voters that shows an overwhelming number want the taxes they pay at the pump to fix roads and bridges. Michigan is among states with a sales tax on motor fuels. That tax, 6 percent, does not go to roads and bridges. By law, the proceeds suppor...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget include additional funds for MI Contracting Opportunity, a program that supports contractors and suppliers who are socially or economically disadvantaged. The $5 million recommendation represents a renewal of the item in the previous budget, with a $2 million increase. On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation po...

This week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features conversations with two people who participated in a Feb. 6 announcement by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) of an additional $2.6 million being invested in 13 community projects as part of construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge (GHIB).  First, Heather Grondin, vice president of corporate affairs an...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about the road usage charge (RUC) survey conducted to gauge citizen’s thoughts on funding transportation infrastructure.  Jean Ruestman, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Office of Passenger Transportation, explains how the department sought and won a federal grant to fund the survey and why the Feder...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Garrett Dawe, who was recently named engineer of traffic and safety at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Dawe succeeds Mark Bott, who is retiring. Dawe talks about what he’s learned in a variety of positions at MDOT, including as a Transportation Service Center manager and North Region operat...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, MDOT’s coordinator for snow plowing and other maintenance on state routes in four west Michigan counties talks about preparations for heavy snow in the forecast for this weekend.  Kurt Fritz, who coordinates maintenance on state trunkline (I, M and US routes) in Mason, Oceana, Muskegon and Ottawa counties, talks about his work with the local...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Mike Hayes, who was recently named chair of the Michigan State Transportation Commission (STC).  Hayes, who has been active in community affairs in Midland for many years and served in the Michigan House of Representatives, has been a member of the STC since 2011. He talks about how his background as a community leader and...

This week on the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Joann Muller, co-author of the Axios What’s Next newsletter, offers her thoughts on trends in the automotive industry, including electric vehicle (EV) sales and more.  Three recent stories explored the rapidly changing landscape:  How consumers are finding comfort in hybrid vehicles before fully adopting EVs. From the story: “Car buyers - n...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Stefan Tongur, vice president of business development in the United States for Israel-based Electreon, a developer and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions. He first discussed the technology on the podcast shortly after the contract was announced in 2022. Tongur talks about the significance o...

Experts are trying to parse data that shows a dramatic decline in the number of trips Americans take on foot. Axios summarized findings from Streetlight Data , including a 36 percent drop in average daily walking trips in the contiguous U.S. between 2019 and 2022.  On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Emily Adler, director of content at Streetlight, explains the m...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a discussion about why distracted driving initially trended down in Michigan after the state's hands-free law took effect and why those numbers are not dropping as rapidly now. Ryan McMahon, senior vice president of strategy for Cambridge Mobile Telematics , a Massachusetts-based company with a stated mission to make the w...

 This week, the Michigan Senate’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee heard testimony on legislation that would allow for the use of safety cameras to monitor the speeds of vehicles driving through road construction projects. Pam Shadel Fischer, senior director of External Engagement at the Governors Highway Safety Association, returns to the podcast to tout the effectiveness of the techno...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with two people seeking to better understand the reasons for an uptick in wrong-way driving and to mitigate the risks. First, Gary Bubar, a traffic safety specialist for AAA Michigan, talks about the trend and his organization’s awareness and education efforts. He explains that elderly drivers and those who are in...

Understanding the intricacies of a state's transportation funding can be a daunting task. On this week’s episode of the Talking Michigan Transportation, Bill Hamilton, a policy analyst in the Michigan House Fiscal Agency and transportation luminary, talks about his work. The discussion also includes an overview of Michigan's Transportation Fund (MTF) and the Comprehensive Transportation...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Shane Peck, communications and public involvement director and vice president at WSP, talks about a major study he co-authored examining the most effective way to explain the benefits of transportation. The research identified and tested a broad range of evidence-based themes and presented five key themes: “Transportation that works for every...

On Tuesday, Oct. 10, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation enabling Michigan’s first high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on a segment of I-75 in Oakland County. This week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features conversations with the project manager and an official with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), who offer s...

Ryan Mitchell, recently named director of the newly established Office of Major Projects at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), joins the podcast. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) categorizes major projects as those with a price tag of $500 million or more. Mitchell helped establish and refine the alternative delivery and critical project delivery programs of numerous U.S. t...

Early in 2022, the Detroit News reported that criminals had taken to the city's freeways to settle arguments with guns and avoid the city's network of high-definition surveillance cameras at gas stations and other locations. Michigan State Police reports show at least two shootings happened every month on Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county freeways in 2021. And that is despite increased po...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with John Peracchio, a veteran strategic consultant in the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) sector and automotive industry.  Topics include:  How concerns about what electric vehicles (EVs) mean to the future of work in the industry. https://www.npr.org/2023/09/13/1199260328/how-concerns-over-evs-are-driving-the-uaw-tow...

Last week, before tornadoes devastated communities across Michigan, record rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems and tributaries in Wayne County. The highest total was nearly 7.4 inches reported at a station in Belleville, a 24-hour total nearly all of which fell during this event. The deluge also flooded the tunnels at Detroit Metro Airport and closed the McNamara Terminal for several hours. The...

Jason Gutting joins the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast this week to talk about his new role as director of MDOT’s Bureau of Field Services. He talks about standards and specifications for paving materials and how MDOT engineers confer with counterparts from across the country; innovations in road building, winter maintenance and operations; and ongoing challenges because of inflation and...

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 ch...

This week on the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with two people committed to equity in transportation and access for all. First, Valerie Lefler, founder and executive director of Feonix - Mobility Rising (pronounced like "Phoenix"), talks about what inspires her work and this week’s launch of the Mobility Wallet Pilot Program for veterans. Later, David Bulkowski,...