In anticipation of Governor Snyder’s “Special Message on Transportation and Infrastructure” in October, the Michigan Municipal League hosted Michigan’s Transportation Vision: A Twitter Talk .  Five transportation experts participated in the event including: Robert Puentes of the Brookings Institution, Dan Gilmartin, Executive Director of the Michigan Municipal League, Rich Studley, President and CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Chris Kolb, Executive Director of the Michigan Environmental Council and Rory Neuner, Project Coordinator for Transportation for Michigan.

Puentes kicked of the discussion by providing a national perspective on the challenges Michigan faces, and suggested some potential solutions. Puentes noted that over 20,000 Michigan residents live without a vehicle and without access to public transportation. He said it needs to be easier for low income residents to get to their jobs, and the challenge is to link these individuals up with transit and job opportunities. Also as part of his discussion, Puentes said that while the amount of money Michigan spends on transportation is significant, it is not enough. Puentes also called for smarter spending.

While the topic of money was a common theme, Kolb pointed out that the transportation discussion is too often based on how much money versus what we are going to spend it on. He also talked about making better use of Michigan’s infrastructure bank, and stressed that we need to look as transportation as a whole, and not just view it as roads. We need a Michigan solution for a Michigan problem said Studley as he spoke about the cost of doing nothing when it comes to transportation funding. He also referenced a recent MITA survey that showed that you don’t need to convince anyone that Michigan’s roads and bridges are bad.

Read more about the Michigan's Transportation Vision: A Twitter Talk on Twitter @mmleague and the hashtag #mitransvision and here on this website.

Jason Mancini handles transportation policy for the Michigan Municipal League. Jason can be reached at 517-908-0303, or by email at jmancini@mml.org

 

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