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This post originally appeared on m-bike

Both Crain’s and the Detroit News are reporting on the Michigan Climate Action Plan.

According to the News:

The report by the Center for Climate Strategies said a plan devised last year for battling global warming in Michigan would help limit the state’s heat-trapping gas emissions over the next 15 years.

But more than the environment would benefit, the nonprofit group said. It projected gains of 129,000 jobs, a $25 billion uptick in the gross state product and lower prices for home energy sources such as electricity, oil and natural gas.

“This study validates our commitment to energy efficiency and renewable sources of fuel,” said Steven Chester, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. “It’s the right thing to do for a healthy environment and a healthy economy.”

So what does this report say about biking?

It actually says quite a bit as shown below — but of course it’s easy to make recommendations. Getting MDOT, SEMCOG, county road commissions, local governments, and others to adopt the implementation mechanisms to reduce green house gas emissions is the herculean task.

TLU-6. Land Use Planning and Incentives

Policy Description: Implement state policies and programs that encourage local and regional planning anddevelopment strategies in order to reduce the projected growth of VMT and corresponding GHG emissions. The state will enable each region to adopt a unique mixture of policies to reachreduction goals in its own manner. Strategies include:

• Promoting and expanding regional growth management options that result in more compact mixed-use, transit-oriented, walkable development;
• Transportation system management and pricing that allows for greater investment in alternatives to the single-occupancy vehicle, such as public transit; and
• Use of other land-use related economic development tools as recommended in the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council’s Report (2003)

Some of the implementation mechanisms include:

• Establish a process to encourage higher density housing and employment growth; mixed-use and mixed-income development; and bicycle, pedestrian, and transit-friendly development within these [priority growth] areas
• Encourage the development or rehabilitation of schools in priority growth areas to make it easier for children, teachers, and parents to get to school on foot, by bicycle, or by transit.
• Provide technical assistance to communities on best practices in zoning, parking, and street design to increase walking, bicycling, and transit use
• Develop statewide guidance and technical support for complete streets and well-connected streets to shorten trip distances, to make walking in general and walking to transit safer and more convenient, to reduce the need for overly large urban arterial roads, and to support higher density development.

TLU-7. Transit and Travel Options

Reduce the number of single-occupant vehicle trips and improve the efficiency of daily travel by

• Creating, enhancing, and promoting public transit options such as commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit;
• Enhancing transit service through route expansion, increased service frequency, longer service hours, and/or better system coordination; and
• Facilitating increased carpooling, vanpooling, biking, and walking.

These actions will reduce GHG emissions by decreasing or slowing the growth of VMT, thus reducing fuel consumption.

Some of the implementation mechanisms include:

• Ensure that these [park-and-ride] lots have bicycle storage facilities.
• Incorporate bike lanes into roadway construction and reconstruction plans wherever possible.