Urgent Funding Message from MITA

This information was passed along to WATS by the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association.

URGENT CALL TO ACTION: MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

A three-year effort to increase transportation investment in Michigan all comes down to a single day— this Thursday, the final day of debate for the lame duck session.

Policymakers are considering a transportation investment plan that would provide an additional investment of $1.5 billion per year. In short, the legislation would get rid of the state’s per gallon gas and diesel tax and replace them with a percentage tax based on the wholesale price of fuel. The funding package would also adjust vehicle registration fees and close various loopholes. (The bill numbers are House Bills 4577, 6749, 6750 and 6752.)

Your help is needed!

Legislators often tell us that they never hear from constituents regarding this issue. This is your chance. We strongly urge you and all your employees to call your legislators beginning today through Thursday and ask for their support for the transportation investment plan. Go to: http://mi-ita.com/legislative_contact.asp to find your representative and senator.) Tell them how important jobs and the economy are to our state. Ask to speak to your elected official directly. If they are not available or you get a voicemail, leave them a message encouraging their support. Feel free to make a follow up call again on Thursday to ask how your legislator is going to vote.

The Legislature must not put off action until next year—they MUST act on Thursday.Please contact Mike Nystrom at mikenystrom@mi-ita.com or Keith Ledbetter at keithledbetter@mi-ita.com or call the MITA office at 517-347-8336 with any questions or comments.

Transit Deficiencies

WATS has already collected comments on pavement, bridge, congestion, non-motorized and safety deficiencies throughout the County. This post will focus on transit deficiencies including the need for new service, extended service hours, more frequent service or any capital improvements such as bus shelters, new vehicles, or technology improvements such as next bus signs or cell phone alerts on service.

Several types of transit deficiencies are measured in the long range plan including quality of existing service, span of service (which refers to hours in service), frequency of service (which refers to how often a bus comes) as well as an overall lack of transit service. In addition to corridors that are not served by transit destinations such as schools, parks, libraries, hospitals, etc., that are not served by transit could also be provided.

One example of a transit deficient location could be “I can’t ride the bus from my house in a Township to the library in Saline.” A different example of a transit deficiency would be “I don’t get off work until 2am but the bus stops running at 11:00 pm.” This would be an example of a span of service deficiency.

When providing a comment please include your name, the community you live in, and if you feel comfortable, your email address. If you do not feel comfortable including your email address, you may still provide comments, however, to allow WATS to document and keep track of your comment, please include your email address with your comments in an email to us at wats@miwats.org.

Safety Deficiencies

WATS has already begun to collect comments on pavement, bridge, congestion and non-motorized deficiencies throughout the County. This post will focus on safety deficiencies including both intersection and segment deficiencies.

If there is a segment of road or intersection where you think a large number of crashes occur, please make a comment and let us know where. If your comment is regarding a safety concern along a segment of road, include not only the road name but the ending intersections of the segment such as Arkona Road between Maple and Goodrich. If your concern is at an intersection please indicate so by providing both cross streets in your comments such as the intersection of Arkona Road and Sanford Road.

When providing a comment please include your name, the community you live in, and if you feel comfortable, your email address so that we can contact you with any questions. If you do not feel comfortable including your email address, you may still provide comments, however, to allow WATS to document and keep track of your comment, please include your email address with your comments in an email to us at wats@miwats.org.

For more information on crashes in Washtenaw County check out the crash data section on the WATS website.

Michigan Transportation Funding Task Force Report Released

A report recently released by the Transportation Funding Task Force, appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm, recommends significant changes to the way funds for transportation are collected.

The full report of the Transportation Funding Task Force can be accessed by clicking here.

Associated Press writer, David Eggert wrote an article which discusses some of the recommendations of the Task Force. That article can be viewed by clicking here.

Leave a comment to let WATS know what you think of the information presented in the article as well as your opinions on the report of the Task Force.

Travel Time Analysis Video

At the November Technical Committee meeting a presentation was given that provided some examples of functions the WATS Travel Demand Model can perform. WATS uses the Travel Demand Model as a base for identifying congestion deficiencies in the Long Range Plan.

The embedded video is an example of a function called network time band analysis. This example uses estimated congested travel time to show the distance a vehicle could travel in two minute intervals, up to 20 minutes, from a user selected point. While this example may not be used directly in the Long Range Plan it is an example of how congested travel time information can be useful.

The Technical Committee requested this video be placed on the blog for everyone to see.
In the video, a point in the City of Chelsea is selected at W. Middle Street. Animated bands representing 2 minute travel intervals are drawn where light blue is 2 minutes from the selected point up to red which is 20 minutes away.



Please feel free to post a question about what is being displayed.

Non-motorized Deficiencies

WATS has already collected comments on pavement, bridge and congestion deficiencies throughout the County. This post will focus on non-motorized deficiencies including both sidewalk and bike deficiencies. A non-motorized deficiency can exist if an area does not have non-motorized facilities such as a sidewalk or bike lane or an area whose non-motorized facilities are inadequate or in disrepair. WATS is also interested in locations where pedestrian crossings are difficult and the addition of crossing islands may be needed. Until recently an example would be, “There is no sidewalk along Washtenaw in front of Glencoe Hills Apartments or it is difficult to cross Stadium between Maple and Pauline. Examples of bike comments previously could have included the need for bike lanes along Platt between Packard and Ellsworth.

When providing a comment please include your name, the community you live in, and if you feel comfortable, your emial address. If you do not feel comfortable including your email address, you may still provide comments, however, to allow WATS to document and keep track of your comment, please include your email address with your comments in an email to us at wats@miwats.org.

Congestion Deficiencies

WATS has already begun to collect comments on pavement and bridge deficiencies throughout the County. This post will focus on congestion deficiencies. Congestion causes extended travel times and reduced fuel efficiency.

Please provide comments of instances of recurring congestion only. That is, examples of congestion that occur on a regular basis. Please include the segment of road you feel is congested, and a beginning and ending identifier such as intersections or a freeway interchange. Also, please include in your comment when the congestion often occurs such as AM or PM peak periods or if it is fairly constant throughout the day. Please also provide the direction of the congestion if it is not congested in both directions. For example, Carpenter Road between Michigan Ave and Ellsworth during the PM peak is congested in the southbound direction.

When providing a comment please include your name, the community you live in, and if you feel comfortable, your email address. If you do not feel comfortable including your email address, you may still provide comments, however, to allow WATS to document and keep track of your comment, please also email your comments to us at wats@miwats.org.

Bridge Deficiencies

WATS has already begun to collect comments on pavement deficiencies throughout the County. This second post in a series of six asks for your input on bridge deficiencies and needs. Bridges are critical components of the transportation network. Impassable or closed bridges can add significantly to travel times as users travel considerably longer distances between the same two points.

If there is a bridge that you know of in need of repair or replacement or does not meet the needs of all potential users please leave a comment and let WATS know about the deficiency.

When providing a comment please include the location of the bridge you feel is in need of improvement. Please include the road it is on, along with what the bridge runs over and what community it is in. For example, Dixboro Road Bridge over the Huron River in Ann Arbor Township.

Please include your name, the community you live in, and if you feel comfortable, your email address in your comment. If you do not feel comfortable including your email address, you may still provide comments, however, to allow WATS to document and keep track of your comment, please send a copy of your comment in an email to us at wats@miwats.org.

Be sure to check this blog often as WATS continues to ask you where you feel the deficiencies and needs are in Washtenaw County.

Pavement Deficiencies

An important early step in developing the County’s long range transportation plan is the identification of the specific problems affecting the system. This helps planners identify projects and strategies to address the deficiencies and needs in the system. In the plan, deficiencies and needs are examined in the following six categories: safety, non-motorized, transit, bridges, congestion and pavement. Over the next three weeks, WATS will be asking for your help to locate specific deficiencies or needs in your communities.

This first, in a series of six posts, examines pavement deficiencies and needs. It is important that you provide enough details about the pavement deficiencies or needs you comment on in order for WATS to compile the comment for inclusion in the plan. Please include the road name where you feel the pavement is deficient, as well as the two streets at the ends of the segment and describe the actual pavement deficiency. For example, up until recently, one might have described a pavement deficiency as follows “The pavement is very poor on Ann Arbor-Saline road between the intersections of Wagner Road and Pleasant Lake Road.”

When providing a comment please include your name, the community you live in, and if you feel comfortable, your email address. If you do not feel comfortable including your email address, you may still provide comments, however, to allow WATS to document and keep track of your comment, please include your email address along with your comments in an email to us at wats@miwats.org.

Please visit the blog often over the next three weeks in order to provide comments for the other five deficiencies. Please share this blog site with others in an effort to provide additional opportunities for others to comment on deficiencies on our transportation system.

More HOV lanes in Michigan?

Click here to view an article from the Ann Arbor news that discusses the possibility of more High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in Michigan.

One of the options considered as part of the US-23 feasibility study are HOV lanes.

Let us know what you think about the possibility of more HOV lanes in Michigan and Washtenaw County by leaving a comment.