On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations about the past, present and future of MDOT’s Transportation Diversity Recruitment Program (TDRP).

The 10-week program allows students to work alongside other on-the-job training program participants, internal staff and external professionals who provide engineering, technical, inspection, and project management services for state road and bridge projects.

First, James Jackson, who coordinates the program for MDOT, talks about what the students can expect. This is the eleventh year of the program.

Later, Donte Harris, a three-time intern, now working for the electric vehicle charging startup company it’s electric in Detroit, talks about how the TDRP program helped him.

As lawmakers in the Legislature continue negotiations for the state’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget, one addition specific to transportation involves a $5 million appropriation for a pilot program to assess replacing traditional fuel taxes with a mileage-based road usage fee.

This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features another conversation with Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy for the Reason Foundation. Feigenbaum has done extensive study on the need for long-term changes to funding policy for roads and bridges. He’s also testified before legislative committees at the federal level and in several states.

He recently told Michigan lawmakers that a fuel tax is akin to “a rock star on his farewell tour” as increased fuel efficiency diminishes returns on fuel taxes.

Note: This episode originally posted on Aug. 14, 2023.

On this week’s podcast, Michael J. Coren, the Washington Post’s climate advice columnist, talks about his recent reporting (subscription) on the cost of filling a vehicle’s fuel tank versus charging an electric vehicle (EV) battery.

The answer, he explains, is less straightforward than it seems.

He writes, “Just calculating the cost of gasoline versus electricity is misleading. Prices vary by charger (and state). Everyone charges differently. Road taxes, rebates and battery efficiency all affect the final calculation.”

Other references and links:

Finding on tailpipe emissions and EVs
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/08/07/new_epa_tailpipe_standards_call_electric_vehicle_promises_into_question_970708.html

Pew research on Americans’ perceptions of EVs
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/13/how-americans-view-electric-vehicles/

Energy Innovation study of the cost to fill up
https://energyinnovation.org/publication/how-much-does-it-cost-to-fill-up-an-electric-vehicle-vs-a-gas-powered-car/

The early adopter era is over for EVs
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/09/electric-cars-adoption-rates