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PODCAST

Talking Michigan Transportation

Michigan Department of Transportation

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.

government

All Episodes

31:26

Federal grants will benefit some vital Grand Rapids...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2025/01/23

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Art Green, manager of the Grand Rapids Transportation Service Center, about some federal grants announced recently for his area.But first, Green talks about his experience with extreme winter events in Grand Rapids, like this week’s lake-effect snow and extended sub-zero temperatures. Much of the focus in questions to transportation agencies on social media channels focuses on salt and a lack of underst...

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23:48

Rebuilding the third segment of I-696 begins soon

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2025/01/16

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 will begin in March and continue through most of 2027, and 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 freewa...

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25:44

Meet MDOT’s director of economic development

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2025/01/09

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Mike Kapp, who directs the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Office of Economic Development (OED). Kapp explains the origins of the office and how its various programs provide benefits to communities across the state. He also breaks down the six categories that make up the program. Later, Kapp talks about the office’s 2024 accomplishments, including distributing $23.1 million in Category...

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30:33

Reflections from a retiring DOT environmental policy...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/12/19

On this week's edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Margaret Barondess, a manager in the Michigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) environmental section who is retiring from state government, reflects on her career. More than 50 years ago, Congress adopted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Barondess, who worked for MDOT for 33 years, explains how the act informs planning for transportation projects in Michigan and department efforts to at once protect our a...

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25:28

As the snow flies, why is driving to the conditions...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/12/05

On this week’s episode of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Brad Wieferich, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, talks about his background overseeing development and design of road projects and the challenge of balancing mobility and safety. With strong winds churning up lake-effect snow on Michigan’s western lakeshore, police agencies have reported dozens of crashes. Despite ongoing messages from law enforcement and safety advocates, drivers often fail to drive ...

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23:52

Reprise: Why is MDOT naming snowplows? Thank the Scots

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/11/27

As lower Michigan braces for the first significant snowfall of the seasons, we’re reprising a Talking Michigan Transportation episode from when the department launched a program to name snow plows. This episode features a conversation with Iain McDonald of Transport Scotland, about their program to name the plows, or “gritters” as they call them. Later, MDOT’s Nick Schirripa joined the conversation to talk about some of the creative names people submitted for plows here.

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23:33

Report: Seat belt use slides slightly in Michigan but...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/11/21

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Timothy Gates, associate chair for undergraduate studies of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University, talks about a new report on the use of seat belts and hand-held devices by Michigan drivers.The report shows 92 percent of front-seat occupants in Michigan wear seat belts, down from 92.4 percent in 2023 and 92.9 percent in 2022.Gates talks about the demographic breakdown within those numbers, which show younger m...

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25:23

Why the road building industry is focusing on mental...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/11/14

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about mental health challenges for people who build and maintain roads and bridges. Gregg Brunner, chief engineer and chief operations officer at the Michigan Department of Transportation, spoke about the issue last month on a panel convened by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.As someone who has spent a career focusing on the safety of the transportation system and ...

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24:57

Mackinac Bridge Authority Vice Chairman Bill Milliken...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/11/01

On this week’s 200th edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Bill Milliken Jr., vice chairman of the Mackinac Bridge Authority and son of the state’s longest-serving governor.Milliken talks about the honor and responsibility of serving on the Authority, including his role as chairman of the finance committee as they look to future needs and ensure appropriate revenue streams will be there.He also shares his history with the Annual Bridge Walk and recalls wa...

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20:11

Three-year I-96 Flex Route project draws to a close

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/10/25

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a return visit by Brian Travis, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) project manager on the I-96 Flex Route in western Oakland County, which is wrapping up soon. The innovative project, allowing for the use of shoulders as travel lanes during peak travel times, is MDOT’s second use of Flex Route concept. In 2016 and 2017, contractors built the first phase of a Flex Route, a $125 million investment on US-23 north of Ann Arbor...

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27:36

How MDOT’s major projects office gets things done

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/10/18

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Ryan Mitchell, marking the one-year anniversary of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Office of Major Projects. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) categorizes major projects as those with a price tag of $500 million or more. Mitchell helped establish and refine the alternative delivery and critical project delivery programs of numerous U.S. transportation agencies, includi...

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24:46

Herculean effort results in a new bridge after...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/10/09

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about the extraordinary efforts that culminated with the opening of a new and improved bridge near Edenville.Jack Hofweber, manager of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Mt. Pleasant Transportation Service Center, reflects on the heavy rains and floods that breached dams and ravaged roads and bridges in several counties in 2020, just weeks after many people went into lockdown because of the p...

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21:19

As car-deer crashes persist, MDNR urges hunters to...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/10/03

This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast picks up on themes in a Detroit Free Press story detailing creative efforts by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to stem the proliferation of deer in the state’s southern regions.Ed Golder, public information officer at MDNR, explains the challenges and how wildlife officials are tackling them. This includes some important changes in 2024 hunting regulations.The problem, as outlined in the story:While the state just recentl...

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18:58

How a federal grant could lead to safer wildlife...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/09/19

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a follow-up to the previous episode highlighting efforts to protect people and animals with creative wildlife crossings on roads.Amanda Novak, a resource specialist in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Bay Region, helped spearhead the grant application and explains the importance.As laid out in the project abstract for the grant, the number of wildlife vehicle collisions (WVCs) in Michigan continues to increase a...

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24:53

What we can learn from western efforts to create safe...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/09/11

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, the first installment of two focusing on ways to enhance the safety of animals, and human drivers, with wildlife crossings. In Part I this week, a conversation with Tim Johnson, a landscape connectivity specialist with the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative.Going back some three decades, Canadian transportation and wildlife officials have collaborated on ways to build safe crossings to protect both animals ...

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23:37

The dilemmas of transitioning to EVs with Chad Livengood

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/09/05

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Detroit News editor and columnist Chad Livengood about his reporting on misperceptions and contradictions surrounding the development of electric vehicle battery production facilities.As his Aug. 31 column observed:All of this transition to electrification is backed by huge government subsidies — just like China does with its auto industry — so the Michigan-based domestic auto industry doesn't move more...

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13:06

2020 podcast redux: Gov. Whitmer on her Rebuilding...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/08/29

This week’s edition of Talking Michigan Transportation is a reprise of a 2020 conversation with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer about her Rebuilding Michigan plan. Now four years into the program, the Michigan Department of Transportation continues to improve many of the state’s busiest roads and bridges.Key links: http://michigan.gov/RebuildingMI https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/State-of-the-State/2021

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29:58

A veteran automotive reporter talks EV sales,...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/08/21

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Joann Muller, a Detroit-based reporter for Axios covering all things mobility, talks about electric vehicle (EV) sales, progress on developing charging networks, consumers buying smaller vehicles, and her experience with a new device that converts a conventional bicycle to an e-bike.According to a new report, sales of battery-powered models across America are up compared to the rest of the industry. The boost has been spur...

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34:55

How Michigan State Police deploy ghosts to curb...

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/08/15

Despite Michigan’s hands-free driving law being in place for more than a year now, police are still seeing drivers holding their phones or other devices in vehicles. The practice is especially troublesome where road work is going on.On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with a construction engineer facing the challenge of working with contractors to rebuild roads in a timely manner while maintaining mobility for the public. First, Tanya Pawl...

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22:06

The life and times of a DOT legislative liaison

Talking Michigan Transportation ·

2024/08/08

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Troy Hagon. For 16 years, Troy has worked in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Office of Government Affairs, the past six as director.Troy will be leaving MDOT soon to become the deputy director of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Michigan (ACEC).During the conversation, Troy reflects on his work in the Michigan Legislature prior to coming to MDOT. He also recalls some g...

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248 results

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