Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/category/transportation/)
By Joshua Kim
Following the passing of new legislation by the Illinois General Assembly, the Regional Transport Authority, soon to be the Northern Illinois Transit Agency, will receive an additional $1.2 billion for its annual budget this year. The additional funding will be used to improve “frequency, reliability, and safety”
By Eric Freedman
Motorcycles and deer don’t mix. And motorcyclists are especially vulnerable to injury or death when they do, according to a recent study of a decade’s worth of crashes in Michigan.
By Eric Freedman
The iconic Blue Water Bridge has received a clean bill of operational health from the Michigan Auditor General’s Office. Based on its preliminary survey of procurement, fleet vehicles, employee training and toll transactions, the office said it saw no need to do a full performance audit of the bridge’s effectiveness and efficiency.
By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
The popularity of groups like Wednesday Night Ride, Black Girls Do Bike and Soul Roll is an indicator that Detroit, long known for its ties to the auto industry, is making strides in becoming a cycling destination. However, Detroit streets remain unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians compared to other cities.
By Clara Lincolnhol
On a cool and cloudy summer day, Michigan high school students recently drove the car they’d been engineering for months around the block and parked it in front of the state Capitol. The three wheeled, sharply angled, gray, white and black camo-print car seats two people and is powered by solar-charged batteries.
By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
A new MSU study found that a community’s walkability – particularly the density of pedestrian crossings and public transit stops – influences residents’ health outcomes such as blood pressure, cholesterol and depression. Hamtamck ranks as Michigan’s most walkable city.
By Finn Mills
A Utica representative and a Rochester Hills senator want to authorize new funding for noise abatement projects along state highways. MDOT is studying the legislation and says Michigan has suspended construction of noise abatement measures due to a lack of funding since 2007.
By Victoria Witke A proposal would impose a 50-cent per delivery “retail delivery tax” to raise about $275 million a year to fix local streets. We hear from the Michigan Municipal League, which is floating the idea, and the Michigan Retailers Association and Small Business Association of Michigan which call it a no-go. An Ann Arbor legislator on the subcommittee that handles transportation funding says the money is badly needed.
By Anna Rossow
Capital News Service
Federal grant money will help Michigan’s Department of Transportation implement increased safety measures for public transit drivers and pedestrians. MDOT will receive over $500,000 in funding to install thermal imaging cameras on public transit vehicles to help prevent collisions with people and animals in a variety of weather and light conditions. According to MDOT, the cameras will be installed on up to 60 vehicles at four rural and urban transit agencies: the Blue Water Transit Area in Port Huron, the city of Alma, the Community Action Agency of South Central Michigan based in Battle Creek and the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan. The state’s application for the technology started when Janet Geissler, a mobility specialist at the department, saw a news release on such cameras being used on cars to detect pedestrians, cyclists and animals
She said it is a good technology that is applicable to transit vehicles. She said, “Collisions between transit vehicles and people are a really serious issue.”
The cameras will be mounted on various-sized vehicles – large and small buses, vans and motor coaches – she said.
Geissler said visible light cameras are being used to alert drivers of obstacles but don’t work as well in poor lighting conditions.
“The thermal imaging cameras will detect that obstacle, the person, whether it’s nighttime, whether it’s a snowstorm, whether it’s foggy or whether there’s sun glare,” she said.
By Elinor Epperson
Capital News Service
Michigan is part of an effort to build hydrogen infrastructure in the Midwest.
The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2) has received $22 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to plan several projects, three of which are in Michigan. The alliance, backed by the Michigan Infrastructure Office, wants to expand the Flint Mass Transportation Authority’s fleet of hydrogen fuel buses.
There are plans to build a hydrogen production facility in Ypsilanti, in partnership with the American Center for Mobility. And the other proposed project would be a hydrogen fuel truck stop in Detroit. Hydrogen is a clean energy alternative to electrifying heavy-duty trucks, according to the alliance. Electrifying big trucks, especially for long-haul travel, is challenging with current technology because of the size, weight, and charge time of electric batteries.
By Elinor Epperson
Capital News Service
Three miles of westbound I-94 in Wayne and Washtenaw counties are already set up for connected and automated vehicles. Now the Department of Transportation wants public feedback on the proposed project, which would include almost 40 miles of I-94 if completed.
It’s proposed to eventually span about 39 miles between Ann Arbor and Detroit. The lane would be reserved for connected and automated vehicles, or CAVs for short. Connected vehicles aren’t quite driving themselves yet, but they’re equipped to talk to other vehicles. The department is assessing the project’s impact on the environment and communities around it.