182 episodes
Talking Michigan Transportation Michigan Department of Transportation
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- Government
The Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features conversations with transportation experts inside and outside MDOT and will touch on anything and everything related to mobility, including rail, transit and the development of connected and automated vehicles.
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Another successful launch of MDOT’s diversity recruitment program
On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations about the past, present and future of MDOT’s Transportation Diversity Recruitment Program (TDRP). The 10-week program allows students to work alongside other on-the-job training program participants, internal staff and external professionals who provide engineering, technical, inspection, and project management services for state road and bridge projects. First, James Jackson, who coordinates the program for MDOT, talks abo...
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Could Michigan shift from fuel taxes to road user charges to fund roads?
As lawmakers in the Legislature continue negotiations for the state’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget, one addition specific to transportation involves a $5 million appropriation for a pilot program to assess replacing traditional fuel taxes with a mileage-based road usage fee.This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features another conversation with Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy for the Reason Foundation. Feigenbaum has done extensive study on the n...
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Reprise: Is it really cheaper to charge a battery than to fill up a gas tank?
Note: This episode originally posted on Aug. 14, 2023.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 charger (and state). Everyone charges...
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How trails enhance our quality of life and boost the economy
On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Julie Clark, chief executive officer at the Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails.Clark talks about how she and her family made their way from North Carolina to Traverse City and embraced the northern Michigan outdoors.TART is among many organizations around the state with leaders working with local, state and federal government agencies, as well as foundations and private donors, to grow Michigan’...
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Slow but steady progress on legislation to protect road workers
Late last month, a Michigan Senate committee advanced legislation to enable the use of automated technology to enforce speeding laws on segments of roads under construction. Pennsylvania became the latest to join dozens of other states employing the technology, with positive results.This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast revisits the issue with conversations with two advocates for safer work zones.First, Rob Coppersmith, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure and...
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As construction season kicks off, a focus on protecting workers
This week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast focuses on National Work Zone Awareness Week. An event in Midland on Monday, April 15, will kick off the week with officials from the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan State Police and several industry advocates and others.First, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who will deliver keynote remarks at the event, joins the podcast again to talk about the need for motorists to slow down and be alert in work zone...