Michigan

Ann Arbor Calls for Highway Bus Service
The city council voted unanimously in support of a plan to build more transit and park-and-ride options rather than expand a highway with more car lanes.

Website Streamlines Michigan Transit Information
The tool is designed to help people with disabilities navigate the state’s complex public transit network.

Pre-Permitted Housing Plans Can Combat Blight, Revive Neighborhoods
Faced with blighted neighborhoods where the cost of building a house would exceed its eventual market value, the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, streamlined the permitting process to help lower development costs.

States 'Switching Tracks' to Avoid Public Transit Fiscal Cliff
The influx of federal emergency money used to keep public transit operational during the COVID pandemic will end this year. States and transit agencies across the country are searching for alternative funding sources.

The Link Between Transit Access and Employment
Inadequate access to transportation hinders many Americans’ access to job opportunities.

Michigan State Parks Make Headway on Accessibility
Among other efforts, the state parks system leads the nation in the number of track chairs, a mobility device designed to help people with mobility issues enjoy park trails and beaches.

$817 Million Safe Streets Grants Include $25M for Detroit
The city plans to use the funds to make safety and accessibility improvements at bus stops.

Detroit Launches Duplex Repair Program
The grants will help landlords repair aging multifamily affordable housing.

New Riverfront Promenade Opens in Detroit
The East Riverfront now provides 3.5 miles of contiguous parks and trails on the formerly industrial waterfront.

Proposed Michigan Law Would Establish Homeless ‘Bill of Rights’
The law would ban discrimination based on housing status and ensure more access to social services for unhoused residents.

Suburban Detroit Achieves Long-Awaited Bus Service Expansion
Novi and Bloomfield Hills in Southeast Michigan will have transit service for the first time in 28 years.

New International Bridge Rising Over the Detroit River
The Gordie Howe International Bridge is under construction, towering over the Detroit River at a height of 772 feet on the U.S. side of the river.

ADUs, Minimum Lot Sizes, and Quadplexes Under Discussion in Traverse City
Zoning changes for everything from housing density to minimum lot sizes are under consideration for a city on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Michigan’s Draft Five-Year Transportation Plan Includes $10.9 Billion for Highway Projects
Michigan legislators are also considering $3.7 billion for the state’s Public Transportation Program over the next five years.

National Mileage Fee Pilot Program Late to Launch
EV sales are increasing–good news for the environment but bad news for road funding, as they pay no fuel taxes. Fortunately, the bipartisan infrastructure law has $125 million earmarked to "demonstrate a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee."

Detroit Mayor Proposes Vacant Lot Tax
A new tax plan would reform the city’s famously low vacancy tax rates in an effort to stimulate more housing development and limit speculation.

Proposed Land Value Tax Plan in Detroit
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan proposes hiking property taxes for vacant land and buildings while lowering the rate for occupied homes and businesses in a split tax plan he contends will resolve many of Detroit's blight and high property tax woes.

New Greenway Segment Opens in Detroit
Another part of the 27.5-mile Joe Louis Greenway made its debut in Corktown.

Plan for U.S.-Canada EV Corridor Announced
U.S. and Canadian officials revealed plans for an electric vehicle charging network that will connect Kalamazoo and Quebec City with EV chargers every 50 miles.

Federal and State Dollars Could Be Used to Force Change in Exclusionary Towns
Strict zoning policies keep housing unaffordable. But there are strategies governments can implement to change exclusionary housing policies and promote the construction of more affordable housing.
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