New playbook helps Michigan employers further tackle transportation barriers to strengthen retention and productivity

Business-led transportation solutions can expand the labor pool and reduce turnover

LANSING. Mich. — Getting to work is the first step of the job, but for far too many Michiganders, a lack of reliable transportation stands in the way of an opportunity. That’s why the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) launched the Reliable Rides: Connecting Workers to Jobs playbook, a new employer-focused resource designed to help businesses build transportation programs that improve employee reliability, retention and productivity.

The free, easy-to-use playbook provides businesses with proven transportation models already working across the state and nation. This practical tool helps employers evaluate how transportation barrier removal programs can reduce absenteeism, lower turnover, and improve workforce stability. The resource helps businesses play a critical role in ensuring their current employees, including those with disabilities, can get to work safely and consistently.

Unlike other transportation programs, Reliable Rides is built around the employer and is designed to help businesses launch, implement and measure transportation solutions as part of their workforce strategy.

“The Reliable Rides playbook is about making sure Michiganders have the transportation they need to participate in the workforce while helping employers retain and grow their staff,” said LEO Director Susan Corbin. “When workers can’t reliably get to their jobs, families struggle to pay the bills and put food on their tables and businesses don’t have the staff they need to keep their doors open. Helping Michiganders secure transportation to work strengthens families, expands the labor pool, propels the economy and grows Michigan’s workforce.”

In 2024, LEO surveyed all 16 Michigan Works! Agencies on behalf of the Michigan Workforce Development Board. In every region of the state, transportation challenges emerged as the single most pressing barrier to workforce participation. The Reliable Rides: Connecting Workers to Jobs playbook was created with input from employers, workforce agencies, transit providers, nonprofits and community leaders. The playbook is a tool employers can use to launch their own Reliable Rides program and a resource for other community institutions to help scale transportation solutions locally.

“Just as health insurance and childcare are now recognized as smart workforce investments, it is important we also recognize transportation as a needed investment,” said Stephanie Beckhorn, Deputy Director of LEO’s Office of Employment and Training. “The benefits are clear: lower turnover, fewer attendance problems and stronger employee loyalty.”

The playbook also provides case studies and proven models that support transportation needs and workforce participation based on the company’s size, number of job sites and site location types (urban, suburban or rural).

"As Chair of the Michigan Workforce Development Board’s Barriers Committee and a member of LEO’s Auto Workforce Hub’s Structural Barriers Workgroup, I advocate for innovative, streamlined and effective ways to break down barriers getting in the way of workers connecting to and staying in good jobs, and the Reliable Rides Grant Program does just that,” said Terri Weems, Group Executive of Workforce and Detroit at Work. "Providing a roadmap and tools to employers to support their workers with transportation barriers, including workers with disabilities, is key to expanding opportunity, helping employers meet demand, and growing Michigan’s economy for all.”

In support of this initiative, LEO will launch a pilot incentive grant program to support employers in addressing workforce transportation challenges. This initiative encourages employers to utilize the Reliable Rides playbook to develop and implement actionable transportation models that improve employee retention, productivity and access to work. A total of $260,000 in funding will be available through this pilot program. The application period for the transportation pilot grants will begin in January 2026.

“This pilot will provide a proof-of-concept for many of the models spotlighted in the Reliable Rides playbook,” said MI Auto Workforce Hub Director Amanda Lawrence. “The funding will offer real-world solutions to transportation challenges faced by many Michigan workers, including individuals with disabilities, and it will support employers who will benefit from a more consistent and reliable workforce.”

The MI Auto Workforce Hub was formed to ensure every Michigander has equitable access to high-quality training, education and services that lead to fulfilling automotive industry careers in their own communities. The hub is the workforce pillar of LEO’s Community & Worker Economic Transition Office.

To view the Reliable Rides: Connecting Workers to Jobs playbook, learn more about other mobility workforce initiatives, and check back for grant opportunities, visit Michigan.gov/AutoWorkforceHub.

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