On the latest edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff interviews Chad Livengood, senior editor at Crain’s Detroit Business.

They talk about Chad’s in-depth reporting on transportation policy in Michigan and the decades-long struggle for funding to shore up roads and bridges and put the state on equal footing with our Great Lakes neighbors and the rest of the country. How this would be possible with Gov. Whitmer’s Fixing Michigan Roads Fund proposal.

Fixing Michigan Roads Fund:
https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_91685---,00.html

Other topics include:

— How Michigan lawmaker term limits, the nation’s most restrictive, stall progress on public policy, especially vital investment in infrastructure;

Commentary: Want to fix roads? Start with the damn term limits: https://www.crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-livengood/commentary-want-fix-roads-start-damn-term-limits

— How land-use and transportation policies are intertwined, as Livengood observed in a June 9 story. From the story: Outer-ring suburban townships, which get no state direct aid for roads, approve residential housing sprawl — and then dump the cost of infrastructure onto cash-strapped counties;

As outer-ring suburbs grow, they bring demands for road growth — how can we afford it?
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/crains-forum-outer-ring-suburbs-grow-they-bring-demands-road-growth-how-can-we-afford

Alternative road-funding methods that come and go.

As Michigan highways deteriorate, should we consider toll roads? - mlive.com
https://www.mlive.com/news/2010/02/road_toll_tax_use_fee_mainbar.html

— The half-century struggle for a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) in Southeast Michigan to link the city of Detroit and surrounding counties as many metropolitan areas do, including many with lesser populations, across the country. For a story posted Sunday, Sept. 22, Chad features a broad selection of voices discussing it from myriad points of view across the region. He also explored the challenge of people making the decision about public transportation relating to those who actually use it, as summed up by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist: “If you've never been reliant on public transit, you don't understand the difference between waiting eight minutes for a bus and waiting 30 minutes. You don't understand what it means to have a baby stroller that you have to collapse to get on the bus. You don't understand how hard it is.”

Revived push for RTA millage in SE Michigan: https://www.crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/new-leadership-oakland-county-revived-push-get-transit-millage-ballot

Schafft das Virus ein Heer von chronisch Kranken?