Talking Michigan Transportation Michigan Department of Transportation

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Ryan McMahon of Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a Massachusetts-based firm that tracks data from drivers, participating voluntarily, to analyze statistics and driver behavior. McMahon last spoke on the podcast in November, a few months after Michigan Gov. Whitmer signed the law making it illegal to use a hand-held electronic device while driving.The news was less sanguine then, but now his firm is reportin...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about legislation that would appropriate economic development funds for community-based programs, including public transportation.This week’s guest, Jared Fleisher, who leads government affairs and economic development for Rock (Dan Gilbert’s family of companies), explains why he’s passionate about the proposed bills and their potential to enhance qualify of life across Michigan and attract and retain talent...

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...

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...

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...

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’...