On this week’s edition of Talking Michigan Transportation, Jeff talks with Andy Doctoroff, the governor’s point person on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, about a significant Michigan Court of Appeals ruling related to the project. Later, Mark Butler, director of communications for the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), talks about last week’s Community Organization Investment (COI) announcement.

First, in a unanimous decision published June 18, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling in rejecting the Detroit International Bridge Co.’s challenges to the agreement that allows MDOT to work with the Canadian government to build the bridge.

Gov. Whitmer praised the ruling.

"We are very pleased that yet another court, this time the Michigan Court of Appeals, has affirmed the agreement between Canada and Michigan to build this vital bridge,” the governor said in a statement. “This emphatic ruling means progress will continue on a project that is spurring growth and creating good-paying jobs in Detroit, Windsor and across the region.”


Community benefits

Last week, the WDBA announced recipients for July 2020 COI funding. Butler explains why community benefits are an important part of the work to build the bridge and the WDBA’s ongoing commitment to the residents, businesses and community organizations on both sides of the border. He also affirms the commitment to opening the bridge in late 2024.

This year’s COI recipients will receive funding in July 2020. The projects include:

•	Sandwich First Baptist Church: Sandwich Underground Railroad Freedom Museum
•	Society of Saint Vincent de Paul Windsor Essex Central Council: Helping Hands Friendship Centre
•	Friends of the Court: Spreading Our Roots
•	Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor Essex: Big Neighbourhood – Sandwich
•	Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA): Binational Detroit River Cleanup
•	Les Amis Duff-Bâby: Grand Opening Event - Duff-Bâby Mansion
•	West Vernor & Springwells Business Improvement District (BID): The Bid Is Open for Business!
•	Bridging Communities, Inc.: Southwest Expanded Seniors Services
•	Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church (Food Pantry): Food Pantry Equipment and Replacement Expansion Program

Gordie Howe International Bridge: A court ruling and more community benefits

Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the creation of the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification and named Trevor Pawl as the state’s chief mobility officer. Pawl has extensive experience in business development for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) and has been a leader for PlanetM, a mobility initiative representing mobility efforts across the state.

https://www.michiganbusiness.org/press-releases/2020/07/michigans-office-of-future-mobility-and-electrification-formally-launches-sets-course-for-economic-growth-job-creation/

Pawl talks about his plans for the new office and the intention to take advantage of ongoing collaborative efforts between the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), MEDC, and other government agencies, as well as academia and private industry.

Also discussed: the life-saving benefits of technologies automakers are developing on the road to further automation of vehicles. As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) observes:  

Driver assistance technologies in today’s motor vehicles are already helping to save lives and prevent injuries. A number of today’s new motor vehicles have technology that helps drivers avoid drifting into adjacent lanes or making unsafe lane changes, warns drivers of other vehicles behind them when they are backing up, or brakes automatically if a vehicle ahead of them stops or slows suddenly, among other things. These and other safety technologies use a combination of hardware (sensors, cameras, and radar) and software to help vehicles identify certain safety risks so they can warn the driver to act to avoid a crash.

Here are some other links and references from this week’s edition:

PlanetM initiative: https://www.planetm.com/

A December 2019 conversation on the podcast with John Peracchio, who chaired the Michigan Council on Future Mobility: https://soundcloud.com/talkingmitransportation/talking-michigan-transportation-the-michigan-council-on-future-mobility-driverless-cars-toll-roads-and-electric-vehicle-charging

NHTSA focus on automated vehicles and safety: https://www.nhtsa.gov/technology-innovation/automated-vehicles-safety

The Economist on investments in electric vehicles: https://www.economist.com/business/2019/04/17/big-carmakers-are-placing-vast-bets-on-electric-vehicles

Meet Trevor Pawl, Michigan’s chief mobility officer

Why does a foundation promoting libertarian ideas support tolling for transportation infrastructure funding? Feigenbaum expands on his commentary supporting Michigan’s tolling study and also talks about:

https://reason.org/commentary/michigan-moves-to-study-interstate-tolling-as-way-to-improve-highways/

- The value of being able to travel freely on a road whenever you choose, not just the use but options created by perpetual availability. Who is benefitting and should pay for it - just the person on the road or also the person or business at the destination?

- The enthusiasm for tolling in Texas and other states 10 to 15 years ago has waned. Should we expect renewed interest?

- Feigenbaum’s belief that tolling is less regressive than fuel or sales taxes and models that design for social equity.

- How we arrived at this point. The challenge of raising revenue even for something as essential to our economy as roads in a climate where lawmakers take anti-tax pledges.

- Feigenbaum’s observations about modern technology and how it has reduced the cost of tolling infrastructure. The cost of toll collection, once as high as 25 percent of revenue in the 20th century, is now less than 10 percent on tolled facilities. Most experts believe that as tolling and technology continue to improve, the overall cost of collection will decline to less than 5 percent, roughly equivalent to the gas tax.

Other relevant links:

A 2019 Epic-MRA poll of Michigan voter views on tolling.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Fees_EpicPoll_669728_7.pdf    

Some things the study will cover, including managed lanes and how they work. 
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/managelanes_primer/ 

Why Michigan doesn’t have tolling. Some history.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Toll_Roads_Brochure_548788_7.pdf

A conversation with tolling proponent Baruch Feigenbaum, Reason Foundation

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a recap of Thursday’s connected corridor announcement. 

https://www.michiganbusiness.org/press-releases/2020/08/michigan-cavnue-creating-road-of-future-between-ann-arbor-and-detroit/

Guests: Trevor Pawl, State of Michigan chief mobility officer, and Collin Castle, manager of the Michigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems program.

https://www.michiganbusiness.org/press-releases/2020/07/michigans-office-of-future-mobility-and-electrification-formally-launches-sets-course-for-economic-growth-job-creation/

https://www.automotive-iq.com/events-automotivecybersecurity/speakers/collin-castle

Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the State of Michigan has entered into a contract with Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP), the urban innovation business of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), to build a first-of-its-kind automated vehicle-only corridor that stretches from downtown Detroit to Ann Arbor. SIP has established a new entity, Cavnue, to work with MDOT, Ford and the University of Michigan to develop the corridor.

https://cavnue.com/
 
Joining the governor for the announcement were Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist; MDOT Director Paul Ajegba; Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) Director Jeff Donofrio; Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co.; U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow; U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, Brenda Lawrence and Rashida Tlaib; and Khalil Rahal, assistant Wayne County executive.

Speakers focused on the economic opportunities and why it makes sense to continue mobility pioneering where the auto industry was born.

As Bloomberg NEF analyst Alejandro Zamorano-Cadavid said in a Bloomberg story, "Given the auto-tech cluster already in Michigan, it makes sense for the state to provide a corridor that will help its biggest industry adapt to a world with less cars and increasingly more shared autonomous vehicles."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-13/michigan-cavnue-are-developing-40-mile-driverless-car-corridor

Announcing a first-of-its-kind connected corridor

On this week's Talking Michigan Transportation, a conversation with state Rep. Leslie Love on the passion and commitment she brought to honoring Aretha Franklin with a memorial highway designation on M-10 (Lodge Freeway) in Detroit.

https://housedems.com/leslie-love/about/

https://mdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=e4838c1a08b64979b5e08f33909f5575

On Monday, Rep. Love joined MDOT Director Paul Ajegba, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and Franklin family members and friends to unveil the Aretha L. Franklin Memorial Highway signs.

Rep. Love recounts the challenges moving the legislation to formalize the memorial designation for the highway and why this was personal for her. "That's not just a sign, it is a symbol. And it's a reminder of the struggle and the victory," Love said.

https://housedems.com/queen-of-soul-memorial-highway-moves-forward/

Lt. Gov. Gilchrist: "She enabled movements that changed people's lives."

Gov. Whitmer paid tribute to Ms. Franklin's work to empower women, invoking a signature lyric: "She taught generations of women to demand R E S P E C T."

Ms. Franklin's granddaughters Victorie and Grace Franklin offered a stirring a cappella rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 38 made their facilities available for the event and provided audio and logistics support.

View a video news release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-DiNr2I1Z8&feature=youtu.be.

Freeway Of Love

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, MDOT Finance Director Patrick McCarthy talks about the process and work leading up to the sale of $800 million in bonds to finance rebuilding several freeways with the state’s heaviest traffic volumes.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Bonding_and_Accelerated_Program_013020_679823_7.pdf

Later, the discussion focuses on the first high-profile project made possible through the bond sales, rebuilding I-496 west of Lansing, with MDOT Lansing Transportation Service Center Manager Greg Losch and Jason Early, MDOT construction engineer on the project.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9621_11008-516762--,00.html

The bonds closed today will cover the cost of rebuilding some of Michigan’s most highly traveled freeways, including the $60 million I-496 project. When all of the $3.5 billion bonds are sold over the next few years, they will finance or help accelerate rebuilding or major improvements of 122 major highways across the state.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Bonding_and_Accelerated_Program_013020_679823_7.pdf

“For too long, our freeways have been held together with patches and emergency repairs,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a news release. “The Rebuilding Michigan program assures Michiganders across the state that they can drive to work and drop their kids at school on safe and reliable roads for many decades to come. It has also allowed us to start moving dirt this year, without an increase at the gas pump.”

In a unanimous vote on Jan. 30, the Michigan State Transportation Commission (STC) authorized the department to issue and sell $3.5 billion in bonds backed by state trunkline revenues.

https://livestream.com/mdot/january2020stcmeeting

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Authorizing_Sale_of_State_Trunkline_Bonds_679832_7.pdf

Gov. Whitmer spoke on the podcast at the time about her Rebuilding Michigan plan, rolled out in her 2020 State of the State address, and the STC vote. 

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_95066-518607--,00.html

Bond Buyer reported on the bond sale in August, observing that while the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt recent collections of pledged revenues, sturdy coverage ratios provide a cushion that the state is banking on to see the credit through the current fiscal storm. 

https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/michigan-readies-first-bond-funding-for-3-5-billion-road-program

"Michigan's state trunkline bonds are not susceptible to immediate material credit risks related to coronavirus because of strong coverage of debt service and limits on additional leverage," Moody's said. "The longer-term impact will depend on both the severity and duration of the crisis."
 
Moody’s concluded that the lack of investment has taken a severe toll on the state’s transportation assets.

First bonds sold to fuel Gov. Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan plan

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a discussion about the long-term challenges for transportation infrastructure presented by a volatile climate. 

First, Hugh McDiarmid Jr., director of communications at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, joins to talk about the High Water Action Team convened earlier this year by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 
 
Wednesday, Gov. Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-182 and Executive Directive 2020-10 to create the MI Healthy Climate Plan. The governor’s comprehensive plan will protect Michiganders’ public health and the environment and help develop new clean energy jobs by putting Michigan on a path toward becoming fully carbon-neutral by 2050. 

https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90705-540277--,00.html

https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90704-540278--,00.html

“The science is clear, and message urgent: the earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, and human activities are largely responsible for this change,” says the executive directive.

McDiarmid explains that Michigan’s water levels are at their highest in more than two decades, causing millions of dollars in damage to private property and public infrastructure, like roads and bridges. 

Traffic has been disrupted across the state as flooding and high water flowed over roads and bridges. The problem is particularly acute on the Lake Michigan shore, where roads have been under water in Benton Harbor, Montague, Whitehall, Pentwater, and Elberta in Benzie County. Inland areas have also suffered damage as well as roads near Lake Huron.

Erosion severely damaged the popular Little Traverse Wheelway between Charlevoix and Petoskey and a study indicated restoration could cost millions.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/09/23/study-little-traverse-bay-shoreline-millions-repairs/3504959001/ 

Matt Chynoweth, MDOT’s chief bridge engineer and director of the department’s Bureau of Bridges and Structures, joins the podcast to talk about the perils high water presents for bridge supports, and MDOT’s intensive inspection procedures. 

Chynoweth explains that the issue is not so much the annual precipitation totals but more about the increased frequency of extreme events. Given the median age of bridges in the state, he details how MDOT inspectors monitor bridges and structures around the state during these more frequent and higher intensity flooding events.

He also explains the concept of bridge scour and why the sustained high water is of particular concern.

Maintaining Bridges In An Era Of Climate Volatility

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.