Talking Michigan Transportation

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, questions and explanations about the increasing frequency of melting ice falling from the Mackinac Bridge cables, creating hazards for motorists and the need to close the bridge for many hours at a time. This video illustrates the danger. 
First, Joe Shampine, maintenance supervisor for the Mackinac Bridge Authority, talks about the dangers the heavy ice presents to travelers below and the decision-making process for closing and reopening the bridge. He also offers praise for maintenance staff members who have to explain to frustrated drivers why the bridge has to be closed during these events.
Later, Matt Chynoweth, the former chief bridge engineer at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and now bridge practice leader for the consulting firm RS&H, returns to the podcast to offer broader perspective based on his research and conversations with other bridge owners across the country and world.

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Ben Stupka, executive director of the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) of Southeast Michigan.
After nearly four decades of on-again, off-again discussions, Public Act 387 of 2012 established the RTA.
Stupka talks about leading the funding, planning and coordination for all public transit systems across the four-county footprint. Services include D2A2, an express bus service connecting Detroit to Ann Arbor; the Detroit Air Express (DAX), a pilot express bus service connecting downtown Detroit to Detroit Metro Airport; and the MyRide2 mobility management system.
The RTA efforts gained a boost recently with Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield proposing a budget with increased funding for public transit in the city, including the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) bus system and the Detroit People Mover. The RTA operates the Qline.

Michigan’s State Transportation Commission (STC) approved a fifth amending bonding resolution under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan Program, focused on rebuilding state highways and bridges that are critical to the state’s economy and carry the most traffic.
On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Patrick McCarthy, director of finance at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), explains the action.
The resolution, supported by all six members, amended resolution accurately reflects actual total costs of completed and upcoming construction projects from $3.5 billion to $4.3 billion. 
Initially approved by the STC in 2020, up to a maximum of $3.5 billion of bonding principal were authorized. Together with the initial principal, any associated premium received from investors and interest earned may be used to fund the program.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation, conversations about automaker efforts to bring down the cost of electric vehicles (EVs), the impact of the EV pullback on the South and trends in safety.
Joann Muller, the transportation correspondent at Axios and author of their weekly Future of Mobility newsletter, joined the podcast to talk about those issues and more.
Some key topics:
·       Ford’s efforts to make EVs more affordable.
·       How public policy at the federal level will affect the development of autonomous vehicles, which are typically EVs.
·       Safety concerns for robotaxis.

As road agencies across the state prepare for the 2026 road and bridge construction season, this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast is a reprise of an August 2025 episode that focused on jobs tied to road and bridge building.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent a letter Aug. 7, 2025, to the directors of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), calling on them to compile and publicly release data on the impact of the state’s road funding cliff and federal funding rollbacks and policies on Michigan’s economy and employment. 
First, Heath Salisbury, financial secretary and training director for Operating Engineers 324, talked about what investments in infrastructure mean to people in the skilled trades and the thousands of jobs involved. 
Salisbury offers his own perspective as a veteran of the industry, working in the trenches, then later in training workers and developing a work force capable of building in a modern environment where technology is evolving rapidly.
Later, Karen Faussett, who manages MDOT’s statewide and urban travel analysis section, talked about how her team tracks the economic benefits of investment in transportation infrastructure.