Michigan had the first mile of concrete pavement (on Woodward Ave) in 1909. We had the first lined road (River Road in Trenton) in 1911. In 1920 we were the first state to embrace the four-way, three-colored traffic light system.
And it hasn’t stopped since. In fact, it is quite exciting as the announcements just keep rolling in (pun intended). More recent announcements highlight Michigan as a leader in the advancement of Mobility. The list over the past 12 months alone is pretty impressive. In case you haven’t been paying attention, here are just some of those plans, projects, and developments that are keeping our state at the forefront of the advancement of transportation efforts.
April 2021 – Michigan’s focus on building a stronger state economy through safer, more equitable, and environmentally conscious transportation for all Michigan residents got a big boost with the announcement of the nation’s first-ever real-world testing site for parking solutions. This public-private partnership has the state collaborating with Ford, Bedrock, and Bosch in what is now known as the Smart Parking Lab.
October 2021 – General Motors announced that it would be building a battery cell development facility in Warren Michigan. The all-new Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center is expected to significantly accelerate the development and commercialization of longer-range, more affordable electric vehicle batteries. They are hoping that the advancement of their Ultium battery cells will eventually lead to a reduction in the cost of Electric Vehicles by as much as 60%.
April 2022 – Cavnue, the company Michigan engaged to lead the project, gave an update on the first-of-its-kind connected and automated vehicle (CAV) corridor scheduled to cover a 25-mile stretch of I-94. The announcement on April 27th shared that they had completed their Series A capital investment round, having generated $130 million for the project.
While the Michigan project would be the first, the vision is for a pipeline involving a nationwide deployment of CAV lanes and corridors to facilitate faster and safer autonomous transportation at all levels.
April 2022 –State administrators announce a first-of-its-kind partnership between the State of Michigan and the National Park Service (NPS) to collaborate on implementing safe, innovative technology to increase accessibility and equity in recreational and park settings. Through this partnership, the five national parks located in Michigan will provide an environment to pilot these emerging mobility technologies that will help make national parks across the country safer, more equitable, and accessible to residents and visitors alike.
The partnership will be part of a cross-departmental collaboration within the state of Michigan – including the Michigan Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, part of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Department of Transportation (MDOT), the Department of Labor and Economic Development (LEO), and the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification.
April 2022 – We are really on a roll now as Lt. Governor Gilchrist announces $577,000 of grants to be used for the expansion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, increased access to electric vehicles, and a broadened EV adoption across the state.
Chargeway, eCAMION, ElectricFish, Fleet Lab, MoGo, and Volta, will be receiving the funding through the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform to deploy projects in Lansing, Traverse City, Port Austin, Allegan County, Burt Township, Monroe, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and DTE Energy’s Service Territory. Gilchrist shared “… we understand in Michigan the value of innovating in our current mobility ecosystems to support the needs of the future.”
With the State providing the leadership and opportunities for all types of advancement in technology surrounding transportation, the MIPA would like to jump on board in helping to identify developments and share information with our members to allow us all to have the resources at hand to define a collaborative direction as Michigan continues to blaze new paths in the ever-changing world of Mobility.
We encourage all members to share their own initiatives and developments that you have or plan to put into place to meet the demands of a safer, more economic world of parking and transportation.
