Talking Michigan Transportation

With prices of goods and services up across the board, it is no surprise that inflation is also affecting road and bridge building projects.  Road agencies across the country are facing higher prices for materials. Labor costs have also risen with a demand for skilled workers, challenging employers across all sectors and affecting the cost of home building like other construction.   This week’s Ta...

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.  As this record shows , closures because of falling ice have happened with increasing frequency.  First,...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a semi-regular conversation with Lloyd Brown, formerly director of communications at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and now with the consulting firm, HDR. Topics include: Fuel tax pauses Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of a bill to pause the state tax on gas and diesel fuel. Meanwhile, the governo...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a focus on the challenge road agencies face trying to make repairs at a faster pace than the pavement deteriorates. First, Chad Livengood, senior editor at Crain’s Detroit Business with a long track record reporting on transportation policy and funding in Michigan, talks about his takeaways from an in-depth story (subscription) posted this we...

This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast puts a spotlight on the project transforming I-375, a stub freeway built six decades ago, piercing the City of Detroit and displacing whole neighborhoods in the era of urban renewal.   Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Director Paul C. Ajegba, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and interested parties this...

This week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features conversations about the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) initiative to bundle bridge projects together to make them more cost effective.  First, Rebecca Curtis, deputy chief bridge engineer at MDOT, explains how the program stretches taxpayer dollars to help some local road agencies make major improvements on t...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation, a conversation with Robert Davis, who retired from MDOT in 2021 after working across three administrations as a senior adviser and community engagement leader on large projects in Metro Detroit.  Sharing his passion for public service, Davis talks about his work as a senior adviser and cabinet member for former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and his...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Kari Martin, MDOT’s University Region planner and project manager on the tolling study requested in 2020 legislation . Also joining the conversation is Eric Morris, Michigan office lead for HNTB, the transportation consultant selected to complete the study.  Martin and Morris explain the process and why the Legislature is...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations about two significant announcements related to the future of mobility.  First, Stefan Tongur, vice president and managing director of North America for Electreon, talks about his company’s contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to deploy wireless charging infrastructure on a public street. ...

This week, as meteorologists forecast a major winter storm for much of lower Michigan, the head of statewide maintenance and operations for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) talks about all the crews are doing to prepare.  Mark Geib, who is moving on to private industry after a rich 31-year career at MDOT, talks about the evolution of road maintenance work, innovations and all he’s...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Matt Chynoweth, MDOT’s chief bridge engineer, returns to discuss what President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) means to Michigan bridges.  This conversation was already scheduled when news broke about the local bridge that collapsed in Pittsburgh. Two weeks ago, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Nickolai Miotto, a member of Operating Engineers 324 working on the Gordie Howe International Bridge . Following his appearance, Andy Doctoroff, the point person on the project for the Michigan governor’s office, visits again to offer an update on the project’s progress.  Ahead of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2022 Stat...

A year into the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) initiative to engage the public in naming snowplows across the state, an update on progress.  Shortly after MDOT launched the project in 2021, inspired by a plow-naming venture by Transport Scotland, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist visited an elementary school in Benton Harbor where a class of fifth graders named a plow Tiger in hon...

This week, in the wake of an announcement about a first-of-its-kind cross-border initiative to test the feasibility of commercial drone use, Bryan Budds, deputy administrator of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Office of Aeronautics, explains the project.  Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that Michigan and Ontario are collaborating on a technology initiative in...

On the final Talking Michigan Transportation podcast of the year, MDOT Director Paul Ajegba looks back on the historic investment in roads and bridges, as highlighted in this video . The video details the additional billion dollars invested in 2021 as well as the 10,000 jobs supported across the state. Some local officials and business leaders share their thoughts on the benefits of the investment...

Preliminary numbers show fatal crashes increased again in 2021 over 2020, up by about 10 percent, continuing a disturbing trend reflected in national data. Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a report detailing factors contributing to the higher death count, including speeding and a decline in seat belt use. This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation pod...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation, a conversation with Suzanne Schulz, the former director of planning for the City of Grand Rapids, who helped with some groundbreaking initiatives related to Complete Streets, accommodating multimodal users and breaking down barriers to access. She was also instrumental in helping to implement a statewide Complete Streets policy. She’s now urban plann...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with senior Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) project manager Jonathan Loree and Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist about some key MDOT projects aimed at enhancing connections for travelers in the city of Detroit.  The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Nov. 22 $1 billion in Rebuilding Ameri...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with a regular guest, Lloyd Brown. Now working for the consulting firm, HDR, Brown was previously the communications director at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Recalling his time working for the Washington (state) Department of Transportation and then AASHTO, Brown talks about t...

This week, as President Biden signs the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a conversation about the historic context of the legislation and what it can mean to Michigan.  Andy Doctoroff, a Huntington Woods lawyer who teaches a class that he created at the University of Michigan Law School focusing on infrastructure, joins the conversation to offer his insights.   Doctorof...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with two people about the ongoing surge in highway speeds that began with the pandemic in early 2020 and the resulting rise in crash deaths.   First, author and columnist Helaine Olen talks about observations in her Washington Post column this week about the spike in reckless driving and traffic fatalities. Also discussed is the...

As early-November snow accumulates in Michigan, this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast includes conversations about preparing for winter.   First, Mark Geib, MDOT engineer of operations and administrator of statewide maintenance programs, talks about the efforts of MDOT and other road agencies to recruit and train snowplow operators during a pandemic-related work force shortage.  Geib...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, timely conversations about the long-awaited infrastructure bill President Biden has been seeking.  Recorded Thursday, Oct. 28, as negotiations continue in Congress, Susan Howard, program director for transportation finance at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, talks about the Infrastructure Investment and...

This week on the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with two people deeply involved with recruiting, developing and training the infrastructure-building workforce.   Even before the pandemic-induced phenomenon known as the Great Resignation, employers in many sectors were struggling to find and retain employees. This certainly applies to the skilled trades.  First, James Fults...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Jesse Ball, who coordinates social media at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).  Ball talks about his background, growing up in the Upper Peninsula, graduating from Michigan State University, then working in California and Michigan media markets. In 2008, he became MDOT’s first social media administrator.   U...