Transportation & Roads

Arrival of Uber means fewer cabs, cab drivers

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By AMELIA HAVANEC
Capital News Service
LANSING – Uber may be a household name, but the entrepreneurial ridesharing company reached Michigan only two years ago, tacking Detroit and Ann Arbor onto its momentum for global popularity. Since then, the service has expanded to Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint and Kalamazoo. Meanwhile, many taxi companies, including ones in Michigan, have struggled to keep up with the technology and new business model Uber offers. And they face setbacks. In Grand Rapids, for example, the number of taxi drivers with active licenses is down 22 percent since last year, according to the city clerk’s office.

Government

Grant will improve parking safety for truckers

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By ZHAO PENG
Capital News Service
LANSING— Michigan expects a $3 million federal grant to expand its Truck Parking Information and Management System to provide parking information for truck drivers to increase their safety, according to the Department of Transportation (MDOT). “We were really happy that the federal government saw this as a worthwhile project,” said Kirk Steudle, the MDOT director. “Truck parking is a very real problem.”
Chuck Simmons, safety management specialist at the Michigan Center for Truck Safety, said truck drivers have a problem finding safe and available parking, which increases the danger for them. “It could be challenging to find a parking spot. If they can’t find a safe spot, they will find whatever is available,” Simmons said.

Business & Economy

Are robot cars good for the environment?

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Cars that drive themselves may be safer, smarter and more efficient than those driven by people. But will they be better for the environment? It’s a question with no definitive answer, said John DeCicco, a research professor at the University of Michigan’s Energy Institute and a board member of the university’s MCity – an entire city for the testing of the vehicles, complete with cutouts of pedestrians and stoplights. Some aspects of the vehicles could greatly reduce energy use and emissions, while other aspects could increase emissions, said DeCicco. Driving efficiency improves greatly with an autonomous infrastructure.

Government

Mass transportation could move state beyond “Band-aid” fixes

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By JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
LANSING — The May 5 ballot proposal to raise sales taxes for road improvements might be just a start toward fixing the state’s transportation needs. For many years, officials haven’t been fixing roads but patching them, said Denise Donohue, the director of the County Road Association of Michigan. “Currently we are simply patching potholes, which just puts a Band-aid over the problem,” Donohue said. “If there is a pothole, that means there is a crack in the road bed that is allowing water to get through and freeze and so forth. So really, a bigger repair is what’s needed.”

A legislative report from 2011 says such quick fixes only last up to three years for roads in fair condition, and not even a full year for roads in poor condition.

Transportation & Roads

Roads proposal could aid officers, advocates say

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING — The controversial May ballot proposal that would raise the sales tax and fix Michigan roads could have an unexpected side effect: safer working conditions for police officers. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among police officers, said Terry Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association. Through March 26, 12 officers across the country died in traffic accidents this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Michigan recently experienced this first hand when Ingham County Sheriff’s Deputy Grant Whitaker was killed in an automobile accident while chasing a suspect last December. “Our workplace is the highway,” Jungel said.

Business & Economy

Michigan teen driving program puts the parent back in the car

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Parents who have qualms about their teen getting behind the wheel can rest a bit easier through a Michigan Sheriffs’ Association-backed program. The program, “Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers” — or STOPPED — informs parents any time a vehicle registered in the program is pulled over or involved in an accident, even if no ticket is issued. “[Teens] are at the dangerous intersection of inexperience and risk taking,” said Terry Jungel, executive director of the Sheriffs’ Association. “It’s not only dangerous for the teen driver, it’s dangerous for the people the teen driver may hit. It is in all of society’s best interest to make sure these teen drivers are driving safely, because they’re not hitting other teen drivers, they’re hitting us.”

Those who register for the free program receive a STOPPED sticker, which is applied to the driver’s side window.