More than $24 million in state funding was awarded to area road projects last year, according to the Michiana Area Council of Governments’ annual review. Meanwhile, 40 local projects equating to almost $136 million dollars in federal funding are planned over the next four years.
But MACOG also took steps to help residents try different ways of getting to their destination in 2025. It launched the Go574 app to promote sustainable transportation options.
Transit Planner Aiden McHugh told MACOG’s Policy Board on Wednesday that it lets people log their trips and get points towards different incentives. “We launched in April, and then through the rest of the year, we saved about 35,000 miles in single-vehicle travel, which equates to 1,500 gallons of gas, about 15 tons of CO2 from our atmosphere and about $25,000 in savings for commuting costs,” McHugh said.
The Interurban Trolley bus service counted more than 377,000 passenger boardings in 2025, while its Access minivan service saw a 10-percent increase in trips. The new Lake City Loop bus in Warsaw had 700 riders in its first three months. Meanwhile, the region’s trails saw an average of almost 4,000 users each day.
Beyond transportation, MACOG is also touting its efforts to connect residents to housing. The Regional Attainable Housing Investment Fund provided $577,500 in HomePower loans to help 10 families purchase their first homes.
Executive Director James Turnwald said the program lets homeowners get a second mortgage. “What that allows for is to basically be able to secure the funding of 20 percent or more that you would need on a downpayment, so then you’re not paying for private mortgage insurance and all of those kind of things. You’re saving about $400 per month for that household.”
He said any loans to home developers are typically attached to a nonprofit entity that’s working to bring attainable housing to the area. Many programs target homebuyers making 60 to 80 percent of the area’s median income.
Turnwald used the example of a teacher at Penn High School looking to buy a home that they could afford. “And right now, that’s like a $150,000 home, and those are really, really, really scarce,” Turnwald told the Policy Board.
MACOG says it also helped secure a $3 million deal for Devereaux Peters’ Monreaux development in South Bend.
The MACOG region covers Elkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall and St. Joseph counties.
