On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation recapping a Sept. 4 panel discussion in Lansing featuring a thoughtful discussion among experts from various fields on the need for sustainable transportation infrastructure funding and why it’s such a challenge.

John Peracchio, who helped organize the event and moderated the discussion, says he was pleased with the comments of the panelists but hoped for a more robust question-and-answer session that followed.

Some key themes:

• Chad Livengood, politics editor and columnist at the Detroit News, talked about reporting when he was at Crain’s Detroit on subdivisions being built in outer-ring suburbs with no sustainable source of funding for their roads.
• Lance Binoniemi of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association reiterated the job losses that would result from a lack of increased investment in road and bridge building.
• Baruch Feigenbaum of The Reason Foundation explained the long-term benefits of switching to a road user charge (RUC) system for funding roads, as some other states have piloted. He has previously talked about the topic on the podcast.
• Jane McCurry of Clean Fuels Michigan provided perspective on how fees on alternative-fuel vehicles contribute to the road funding mix.

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with a trunkline pavement strategy specialist about how the work in his area helps inform investment decisions. 

Tim Lemon, who works in the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Bureau of Transportation Planning, talks about how pavement condition is measured and how the data is used.  

He explains that remaining service life (RSL) is MDOT’s primary pavement condition performance measure, which indicates the number of years before the pavement is anticipated to reach poor condition. It informs decisions about priorities and which roads and bridges to address.

He also explains that while state trunklines (I, M and US routes) don’t account for the majority of road miles in the state, they carry 53 percent of total traffic and more than 75 percent of commercial traffic in Michigan.   

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a focus on jobs tied to road and bridge building.

Gov. Whitmer sent a letter Aug. 7 to the directors of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), calling on them to compile and publicly release data on the impact of the state’s road funding cliff and federal funding rollbacks and policies on Michigan’s economy and employment. 

First, Heath Salisbury, financial secretary and training director for Operating Engineers 324, talks about what investments in infrastructure mean to people in the skilled trades and the thousands of jobs involved. 

Salisbury offers his perspective as a veteran of the industry, working in the trenches, then later in training workers and developing a work force capable of building in a modern environment where technology is evolving rapidly.

Later, Karen Faussett, who manages MDOT’s statewide and urban travel analysis section, talks about how her team tracks the economic benefits of investment in transportation infrastructure.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, analysis and takeaways on two major announcements related to the future of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure.

Joann Muller, who writes the Axios Future of Mobility newsletter, discusses her coverage of an announcement from Ford Motor Co. on Monday, Aug. 11, billed ahead of time as the next "Model T moment." 

As she wrote in her coverage, "The headline is that Ford will introduce a new family of EVs priced under $40,000 and will use a new manufacturing process to try to make them profitably." 

In 2024, MDOT awarded a state Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) grant to the Calhoun County Road Department (CCRD) for road improvements related to Ford Motor Co.'s BlueOval Battery Park that will improve safety, reduce congestion and support 1,700 new jobs and $2.5 billion of private investment in Emmett and Marshall townships.

 Later, Muller discusses an announcement from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), also this week, about new guidance for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which surprised many who feared a withdrawal of funding.

 USDOT is reopening the spigot for federally funded EV chargers after freezing the program (created in the previous administration) for six months.

 "If Congress is requiring the federal government to support charging stations, let's cut the waste and do it right," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement Tuesday, Aug. 12.

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with the state’s chief bridge engineer about the dire forecast for bridges without additional funding.

Beckie Curtis, director of the Bureau of Bridges and Structures at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), explains the stark reality.

• Bridges must maintain a minimum condition to keep the transportation system open.
• Bridges are expensive investments in the highway network.
• Bridges are long-lived assets, and many bridges on the trunkline system were built in a short window of time as part of the interstate and other freeway systems.
• Because of these factors, combined with historic underfunding, widespread bridge closures can be expected in the next 10-20 years unless funding is increased.

On this week’s edition of the Michigan Department of Transportation podcast, Scott Bowen, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), addresses concerns about access to the beach for campers at the highly popular Traverse City State Park, which is divided by US-31.

Bowen explains that the MDNR is investing in major improvements at the park, including changes that require removing the 60-year-old pedestrian bridge over US-31 (Munson Avenue). The bridge pre-dates laws that require accessibility for people with disabilities. 

The existing bridge is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. "This creates accessibility challenges, especially for pushing strollers, carrying coolers, etc.," the MDNR posted on Facebook. "Some campground patrons opt to drive between the campground and the day-use area, increasing traffic congestion and using limited beach parking."

When the agreement was inked to build a pedestrian bridge over the highway in 1965, MDOT was the Michigan State Highway Commission and the MDNR was the Michigan State Department of Conservation. 

Photo credit: Traverse City State Park photo taken by Tyler Leipprandt and Michigan Sky Media LLC.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Garrett Dawe, engineer of traffic and safety for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), talks about a pilot project to study the use of safety cameras for automated enforcement in school zones. 

An appropriation in the Fiscal Year 2025 state budget called for MDOT to conduct a pilot project on automated speed enforcement in school zones. Dawe explains that his team has been studying proposals and will make an announcement soon of a vendor to conduct the pilot. 

According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), at least 12 states (Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington) conduct school-zone automated speed enforcement. In Georgia and Rhode Island, school zones are the only locations where automated speed enforcement is allowed in the state. 

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics, between 2011 and 2020,  218 school-age children (ages 18 and younger) died in school transportation-related crashes; 44 were occupants of school transportation vehicles, 83 were occupants of other vehicles, 85 were pedestrians, five were bicyclists and one was an “other” nonoccupant. 

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Baruch Feigenbaum of the Reason Foundation returns to talk about developments in Michigan for a road user charge (RUC) model for funding roads. 

The concept is also referred to as mileage-based user fees (MBUF) by some.

Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason, testified June 24 at a Michigan House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee about the concept, addressing concerns about privacy and other aspects. 

A pilot program included in both the Gov. Whitmer’s and the Senate’s proposed budgets would gather feedback from residents and examine implementation strategies. 

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Gregg Brunner, chief operations officer at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), about recent deadly crashes in or near work zones. 

On June 24, a truck driver was killed and MDOT workers were injured in a crash on I-75 in Monroe County. 

In another, July 1, two people were killed in a crash in a work zone queue on I-96 west of Portland. 

Brunner composed a poignant message to department employees with a reminder of the need to be vigilant about safety. 

From his message:                

We talk often about safety, but these events are painful reminders of just how critical it is every single day, in every single task. Whether you're in a work zone, near active traffic, in one of our garages or facilities, or behind the wheel, your actions matter. Safety is a mindset, not a checklist. It's about being present, engaged and always looking out for one another. 

Brunner talked about benefits to be found in developments in technology to alert drivers and the promise of driver-assist technologies in vehicles, as outlined by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

This week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Podcast features a reprise of a 2022 conversation with a veteran Michigan pollster about the public’s view of road conditions, repairs and funding. At the time, the pollster, Richard Czuba, talked about perceptions of improvements because of Gov. Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan program, which allowed MDOT officials to capitalize on a favorable bond market to rebuild many of the state’s busiest roads. The department leveraged debt to make vital improvements, but the need for a sustainable funding solution persists.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, some context from elsewhere on freeway ramp metering, where it works well and why.

First, Angie Drumm, deputy director of traffic and safety for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) region that includes Metro Denver, joins the conversation to talk about the history there and what’s been learned.

Later, Lawrence Dwyer, director of safety and mobility at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), offers a national perspective on the concept and other innovations in traffic safety.

This podcast is the second of two focusing on ramp metering. Last week, the conversation focused on implementation of the approach on I-96 in Michigan’s western Oakland County.

After a long hiatus, Michigan is again implementing ramp metering, which helps regulate the flow of traffic from ramps onto busy freeways. It will be used on the I-96 Flex Route portion in western Oakland County.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Sarah Gill, operations engineer for the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Metro Region, talks about how it will work and the history of ramp metering in Michigan. 

Gill explains the key reasons for implementing ramp metering, which include improving merging, reducing crashes and reducing travel times. An MDOT how-to video offers guidance on the concept.

Next week’s episode will delve farther into the topic and include conversations with a traffic safety engineer with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), who will talk about how successful the concept has been in the rapidly growing Denver area. You’ll also hear a national perspective from the director of safety and mobility at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a check-in with Joann Muller, the Detroit-based transportation correspondent for Axios.

Muller explains the thinking behind General Motors officials’ announcement to invest $4 billion in the U.S. and move some vehicle production back from Mexico.

She also offers some insight she gained in reporting on negotiations between the U.S. and China over rare earth magnets, underscoring the need for the U.S. to develop a long-term strategy.

Also discussed: The likely result of easing regulations that have held back commercial drones in the U.S. 

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with J. Michael Skiba, also known as “Dr. Fraud,” a national expert on scams, like those proliferating in Michigan and other states, where text messages tell people they have unpaid road tolls. 

Skiba is department chair at Colorado State University Global where he oversees the Criminal Justice Department, including specializations in fraud, financial crime, and cybercrime. He discusses the psychology that prompts so many victims of online fraud to engage with scammers on smishing attempts. 

If you’ve been targeted, the FCC offers many tips. 

In April, the Michigan Department of Transportation released a video of Director Bradley C. Wieferich urging people not to respond to the texts.

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 challenges.

Among innovative methods in use are rumble strips to alert people as they approach a work zone, speed trailers and law enforcement employing a Ghost Rider program to identify distracted drivers.

Renner also talks about the zipper merge as a means of encouraging drivers to alternate when work requires a lane to be closed.

Other relevant links:

MDOT Work Zone Safety
Michigan.gov/MDOT/Travel/Safety/Road-Users/Work-Zone-Safety

The Zipper Merge Explained With Kids
youtu.be/TLAISm1XuHQ

Operation Ghost Rider
bridgemi.com/michigan-government/ghost-riders-lookout-distracted-drivers-michigan 

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with a trunkline pavement strategy specialist about how the work in his area helps inform investment decisions. 

Tim Lemon, who works in the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Bureau of Transportation Planning, talks about how pavement condition is measured and how the data is used.  

He explains that remaining service life (RSL) is MDOT’s primary pavement condition performance measure, which indicates the number of years before the pavement is anticipated to reach poor condition. It reflects the anticipated time in years that a pavement section can continue to provide acceptable levels of service, considering factors such as distress, structural integrity, ride quality, and functionality. 

He also explains that while state trunklines (I, M and US routes) don’t account for the majority of road miles in the state, they carry 53 percent of total traffic and more than 75 percent of commercial traffic in Michigan. 

Congressional leaders of various infrastructure committees have shown some interest in adopting a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill, offering departments of transportation and contractors some certainty, well ahead of the current act’s expiration in 2026. 

Susan Howard, policy and government relations director for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), returns to the podcast to share what she’s hearing in conversations on Capitol Hill. 

Late last month, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves released a budget reconciliation proposal. 

Howard explains what that means, where the conversations will move from here and what the reduction in work force at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and other U.S. Department of Transportation agencies could mean.

On this week’s episode of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about states studying or piloting road usage charges (RUC).

John Peracchio, a strategic adviser on intelligent transportation systems and mobility, and member of the Michigan Council on Future Mobility and Electrification, talks about key takeaways from a recent conference of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA), where RUC programs were a key topic.  

Also discussed is what has been learned from other states and what it means that a proposal in the Michigan transportation budget would fund an RUC pilot. Hawaii has been especially aggressive in implementation, and Peracchio explains the unique nature.  

As an advocate for increased funding for public transit, Peracchio also discusses how RUC could be structured to help.

Earth Week 2025 came with a positive development for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) on efforts to implement a pilot program for analyzing wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) and learn ways to design safer crossings.

Amanda Novak, a resource specialist in MDOT’s Bay Region, returns to the podcast to talk about a recently awarded $476,000 federal grant and how it will be put toward the pilot program. She previously spoke about the grant on the podcast in September 2024.

While we think of white-tailed deer most commonly when it comes to WVCs, other species to be considered include elk, moose, black bear, wild turkey, pine marten, eastern massasauga rattlesnake and Blanding’s turtle. 

As laid out in the project abstract for the grant, the number of WVCs in Michigan continues to increase annually, worsening risks and costs to drivers. For example, white-tailed deer alone account for more than 55,000 WVCs and cost motorists an average of $130 million per year in Michigan. Additionally, WVCs are a major threat to many wildlife populations in the state, including documented impacts on several threatened and endangered species. Projected increases in tourism, housing development and climate change effects are likely to exacerbate WVC effects on motorists and wildlife in Michigan.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation, another conversation with Bill Hamilton, a senior analyst at the Michigan House Fiscal Agency (HFA). The HFA is a nonpartisan agency that helps the Michigan House of Representatives in developing the state budget.  

Hamilton explains that the HFA has 15 analysts specializing in specific budget areas, typically departmental budgets. He also talks about overall Michigan transportation budget, which supports roads and bridges for 615 road agencies.  

Also discussed: the Act 51 distribution formula. He explains that while the act dates to 1951, it has been amended a number of times over the years. This includes a breakdown of the distribution of money from the Michigan Transportation Fund (MTF) and the three buckets where money flows: the State Trunkline Fund (STF), county road agencies, and cities and villages.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Brian Travis, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) project manager overseeing the rebuilding of the central segment of I-696.
 
The work, which began in March and will continue through most of 2027, involves closing the eastbound lanes of I-696 from M-10 and Lahser Road east to I-75.
 
 Travis explains that this is the last of three phases of the "Restore the Reuther" project, a $275 million rebuilding of the freeway. In 2019, the state completed work along the easternmost portion, along with the western end in 2023 and 2024.

The conversation also includes an update on MDOT’s second flex route, this one on I-96 in Oakland County. The project is nearing completion as crews prepare for the use of ramp metering to regulate the flow of traffic to the freeway. 

A video explains the benefits of the flex route and ramp metering.

A few days after a massive ice storm rocked northern lower Michigan, many thousands remain without power while crews from power companies, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and other state and local agencies continue the cleanup and rebuilding process.

Bill Wahl, MDOT North Region associate engineer for operations, who is coordinating department efforts, joins the podcast to provide an update on the recovery.

Also joining is James Lake, MDOT North Region media relations specialist, who assists the Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) with communications. He talks about why falling ice necessitated closing the bridge three times in three days, including a record 30-hour period.

Wahl and Lake grew up in the region and neither has seen anything like this ice storm and the resulting destruction. Wahl recounts utility workers who had been on power-restoration projects following hurricanes in the Southeast saying the scenes are as bad or worse as anything they’ve seen.

Wahl says crews from several counties to the south, including Kent, Ottawa, Mason, Missaukee, Muskegon, Roscommon, Iosco and Wexford, were helping to clear roads.

While the Mackinac Bridge re-opened Thursday morning, April 3, after a 30-hour closure, officials will continue to closely monitor conditions for falling ice. 

The MBA posted a video message on X from Bridge Director Kim Nowack about the falling ice, along with some photos from the bridge. More videos of falling ice that prompted the current closure were also posted on X. 

The bridge has closed roughly 30 times in the past 30 years, and the average closure duration is several hours. More frequently asked questions about falling ice and other topics are available on the MBA website. 

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a repeat appearance by Joann Muller, the Detroit-based transportation correspondent for Axios. She talks about how tariffs are affecting the auto industry, how automakers are reacting and what the future might hold.

Muller also shares insights from reporting on a new design for aircraft (a blended wing body airframe) that Delta Airlines and California-based Jet Zero say could make for net-zero emissions flying by 2050.

Lastly, she talks about driverless Uber vehicles in Austin, Texas, and other developments in the evolution of automated vehicles. 

Muller also previews a new newsletter she’s launching, Axios Future of Mobility.

Jason Gutting joins the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast this week to talk about his role as director of MDOT’s Bureau of Field Services.

As talks heat up between Michigan lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over various road funding proposals, the discussion again turns to paving standards and practices.

Gutting 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 supply chain pressures since the pandemic began.
 
 Gutting was previously the administrator of the Construction Field Services (CFS) division. He also worked in Operations and was the construction contracts engineer for CFS as well as the construction engineer and an assistant construction engineer at the MDOT Lansing Transportation Service Center (TSC).
 
 Other references in the podcast: 

Gov. Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan program
www.Michigan.gov/MDOT/Projects-Studies/Rebuilding-Michigan-Projects

MDOT winter road maintenance
www.Michigan.gov/MDOT/Travel/Safety/Road-Users/Winter-Safety

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with state Sen. John Damoose and Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) Chairman Patrick “Shorty” Gleason about legislation to shore up protections of the bridge from trespassers. 

The Senate voted unanimously on March 13 in support of Senate Bill 71, which now heads to the House. 

This comes three years after some troubling incidents on the bridge involving people climbing a tower or otherwise trying to access the bridge to take photos, and another involving a bomb threat that closed the bridge on a busy weekend and disrupted travel for many hours. The MBA took the rare step at the time of adopting a resolution supporting the key facility designation. 

The Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill, sponsored by then-state Rep. John Damoose, 99-6, in 2022, classifying the Mighty Mac and several other vital structures in the state as key facilities. The legislation later stalled in the Michigan Senate. Now, the Senate has reported out, unanimously, the new bill, sponsored by now state Sen. Damoose, which is narrower in focus, applying strictly to the Mackinac Bridge. The designation means trespassing on the bridge would be a felony offense.