Talking Michigan Transportation

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 history, as far as I'm aware," Morgan said. "This is a truly transformational investment."On this week's Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, David Bulkowski, executive director of Disability Advocates of Kent County and a long-time supporter of efforts to improve funding for transit services, explains why transportation is paramount for providing access for all.

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 University Region, has coordinated the drafting of the rules in collaboration with other state agencies. He spoke on the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast about the rules' objectives, chiefly ensuring the safe operation of the facilities.Losch also explains how a long-term lack of adequate transportation funding has caused MDOT to not have the needed resources available that have helped in some other states.For more information, visit Michigan.gov/ROWRules.

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 of a great city’s rebirth. This week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined others in announcing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Michigan Department of Transportation, the City of Detroit and Michigan Central to begin preliminary assessments for a new multimodal transportation hub located within the 30-acre Michigan Central Innovation District, on a parcel just southwest of the station.This week’s podcast features two participants in the MOU announcement: Arun Rao, Amtrak senior director for network development in their Central Region, and Sam Krassenstein, chief of infrastructure for the City of Detroit.

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 studying alternative ways to fund transportation, explains why she advocated for the RUC pilot.Later, John Peracchio, a senior adviser to Michigan’s Council on Future Mobility and Electrification (CFME), offers his insights on how a RUC system has worked in other states and how the council can help with the education process.

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 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 support the school aid fund, revenue sharing for local municipalities and a minor portion helps fund local transit services.Bernie Porn, president of the polling firm EPIC-MRA, explained that all survey respondents were asked, “Do you think that all of the taxes that you pay at the gas pump should or should not go toward funding improvements to Michigan’s roads and bridges?”

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 report this week that shows Michigan ranked fourth among states for vehicle collisions with animals.As reported previously, these crashes pose tremendous risk and costs to drivers. For example, white-tailed deer alone account for more than 55,000 collisions and a $130 million cost to drivers per year.Novak talks about what she’s learned from other government agencies, which have studied the problem and implemented mitigation efforts.A previous episode of the podcast featured a conversation with a connectivity specialist with the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative about creative and successful solutions implemented on the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park.Podcast photo: An animal-crossing sign for tortoises. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith on Noun Project.

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-fault crashes involving large trucks and buses are caused by driver behavior.Zylstra also discusses:The need for trucks to maintain a proper distance to other vehicles.The dangers of trucks blocking lanes in zipper-merge zones and why law enforcement issues citations for that behavior.Special inspections for tires, equipment and other components of commercial vehicles.

As unscrupulous actors continue to impersonate government agencies and target unknowing people with texts about unpaid tolls, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel this week reissued a consumer alert.With that in mind, this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast is a reprise of a conversation in June 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.

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.