Pontiac Times

Michigan Chief Mobility Officer Trevor Pawl recently spoke about efforts to move Michigan forward in terms of electric-powered transportation and lowering carbon dioxide emissions.

Pawl spoke with Michigan Department of Transportation communications director Jeff Cranson during the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast on July 7.

Pawl told Cranson that he has been tasked by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with a broad responsibility that includes not just automotive transportation but mobility, in terms of anything that moves people and goods around the state.

That mission also includes “electrification,” which is where the environmental concerns come into play.

“Electrification refers to the range of technologies that use electricity for powered vehicles,” Pawl told Cranson. “Why that's important is because if you're seeing more electric vehicles on the road, it's likely the environment's going to improve.”

Pawl said that the purpose of his office is to bring together all the diverse things going on in transportation to build a common vision for the future.

Cranson asked Pawl about his work with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s PlanetM initiative and his experience with collaboration between government, academia and private industry, especially as to how that feeds into his current job and efforts to create collaboration.

Pawl said that, early in his work that led him to PlanetM, he found the need to rely on friends and experts in other fields to help him understand and build out ideas, which helped him to develop the background in collaboration he still uses as Michigan’s chief mobility officer.

“That explains kind of a natural evolution from business-to-business matchmaking to what you're doing now,” Pawl told Cranson of his experiences dating back to 2007.

Pawl said that his office is also looking to lower or eliminate “mobility barriers” faced by those around the state, from the elderly to those who are simply faced with economic restrictions that make it difficult to get around.

He said he aims to drive more mobility infrastructure investment in the state, not only from entities already at work in Michigan, but by drawing in interest from companies as far afield as Silicon Valley.

He also said that Michigan is prime ground for the foundation of mobility startups that can bring innovative solutions to the problems face by Michigan and the country as a whole.