U.P. destinations benefit from grant awards for mobility innovations in Michigan's National Parks

As the annual Upper Peninsula State Fair welcomes guests to Escanaba Aug. 12-18, several other U.P. destinations also have cause to celebrate: They’re getting a charge out of new funding announced in a state-federal partnership for sustainable mobility solutions.

Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist stands inside an electric transit bus at a National Parks Service Mobility Challenge event.

• New electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs will serve local residents and visitors to Hancock, Munising, Grand Marais, and Marquette, in the vicinity of Keweenaw National Historical Park and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
• At Muskallonge Lake State Park near Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will deploy off-road track wheelchairs.

Also in northern Michigan, a new full-size electric transit bus will shuttle passengers around the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II joined the National Park Service (NPS) on July 29 to announce these awardees of the first round of grant funding under the National Park Service Mobility Challenge Program, a partnership with the Biden-Harris Administration to serve Michigan’s national parks and improve accessibility and environmental conservation.

“As Michiganders, we understand just how critical it is to serve as environmental stewards to our cherished national parks,” Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist said. “These grants represent a key milestone in our collaborative efforts with the National Park Service and further underscore Michigan’s commitment to developing sustainable mobility solutions that will help ensure long-term economic growth and prosperity in our state and that our natural landscapes are preserved for decades to come.”

“I am incredibly excited about the progress we have made in advancing sustainable mobility within our national parks,” said Justine Johnson, Chief Mobility Officer for the State of Michigan. “These new initiatives not only reflect Michigan’s innovative capabilities but also significantly contribute to our broader mobility ecosystem, propelling us toward a more interconnected and sustainable future.”

Here are details of the grants:

• Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy received $240,000 to install multimodal charging hubs in Hancock, Munising, Grand Marais, and Marquette. The charging hubs will be deployed in partnership with FLO Charging, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), and local municipalities and utilities.
• The DNR received $10,000 for off-road track wheelchairs in Muskallonge Lake State Park that will improve access to outdoor recreation, especially in areas of rough terrain. The project is part of a larger statewide campaign through the DNR to provide off-road wheelchairs at Michigan State Parks.
• Michigan-based software company ADASTEC received $250,000 to deploy an autonomous full-size electric transit bus to shuttle passengers around the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. ADASTEC, together with Vicinity Motor Corp. and ARIBO, previously deployed its automated bus technology at Michigan State University. The state and NPS are bringing the partnership to Sleeping Bear Dunes to study how the next generation of automated bus technology performs in an outdoor recreational setting.

The grants stem from an innovation partnership of the NPS and multiple State of Michigan departments including the DNR’s Michigan Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Labor and Economic Development, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. The partnership was established to improve safety, sustainability, and equitable access at national parks through innovative mobility technologies.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer launched the mobility challenge with the NPS in 2023 as a challenge to the global mobility industry to identify and deploy projects in and around four of Michigan’s five National Parks: Keweenaw, Pictured Rocks, Sleeping Bear Dunes, and River Raisin National Battlefield Park.    

“Michigan’s five National Parks receive 2.7 million visitors every year and generate $380 million in economic benefit, supporting thousands of jobs and local economies across the state,” Governor Whitmer said at the time. “The National Park Mobility Challenge will bring together the beauty of Pure Michigan and our state’s cutting-edge mobility expertise to create safer, cleaner, and more accessible transportation infrastructure.”