Talking Michigan 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.
Episodes
205 episodes
Reflections from a retiring DOT environmental policy leader
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. ...
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Season 6
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Episode 205
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30:33
As the snow flies, why is driving to the conditions so difficult?
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 bal...
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Season 6
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Episode 204
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25:28
Reprise: Why is MDOT naming snowplows? Thank the Scots
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 conversat...
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Season 6
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Episode 203
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23:52
Report: Seat belt use slides slightly in Michigan but fewer drivers using hand-held devices
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
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Season 6
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Episode 202
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23:33
Why the road building industry is focusing on mental health
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 ...
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Season 6
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Episode 201
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25:23
Mackinac Bridge Authority Vice Chairman Bill Milliken Jr. shares memories
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 h...
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Season 6
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Episode 200
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24:57
Three-year I-96 Flex Route project draws to a close
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 R...
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Season 6
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Episode 199
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20:11
How MDOT’s major projects office gets things done
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 A...
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Season 6
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Episode 198
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27:36
Herculean effort results in a new bridge after historic mid-Michigan flooding
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about the extraordinary efforts that culminated with the
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Season 6
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Episode 197
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24:46
As car-deer crashes persist, MDNR urges hunters to take action
This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast picks up on themes in a Detroit Free Press...
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Season 6
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Episode 196
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21:19
How a federal grant could lead to safer wildlife crossings in Michigan
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a follow-up to the previo...
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Season 6
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Episode 195
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18:58
What we can learn from western efforts to create safe highway crossings for wildlife
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 John...
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Season 6
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Episode 194
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24:53
The dilemmas of transitioning to EVs with Chad Livengood
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...
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Season 6
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Episode 193
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23:37
2020 podcast redux: Gov. Whitmer on her Rebuilding Michigan plan
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 im...
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Season 6
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Episode 192
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13:06
A veteran automotive reporter talks EV sales, charging networks and more
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 b...
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Season 6
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Episode 191
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29:58
How Michigan State Police deploy ghosts to curb distracted driving
Despite Michigan’s hands-free dri...
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Season 6
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Episode 190
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34:55
The life and times of a DOT legislative liaison
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.
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Season 6
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Episode 189
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22:06
Why are drunk driving arrests down while alcohol-related crashes are on the rise?
Bridge Michigan reported this week on some troubling statistics in Michigan that show that police are not making as many ar...
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Season 6
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Episode 188
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21:27
The people behind a most iconic international handshake
By now, you may have seen a photo taken high above the Detroit River of two iron workers, one from Canada and one fro...
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Season 6
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Episode 187
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19:15
Managing traffic during road construction; and what about the zipper merge?
As road work continues across Michigan, police are on high alert for speeding and distracted drivers causing crashes during backups. On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about efforts engineers take...
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Season 6
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Episode 186
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23:08
A veteran project manager highlights the value of engaging communities
On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Mohammed Alghurabi, a long-time MDOT senior project manager being honored this week by the Engineering Society...
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Season 6
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Episode 185
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35:08
New data finds Michigan drivers putting down their phones
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 a...
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Season 6
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Episode 184
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28:27
How public transportation fuels economic development
On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation about legislation that would appropriate econom...
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Season 6
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Episode 183
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21:21
