Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan appoints new head of mobility innovation

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced on Tuesday that Tim Slusser will be the new chief of mobility innovation. 

Slusser will be responsible for directing mobility initiatives and policies to improve transit access in Detroit. The role sat vacant for more than a year after Slusser’s predecessor, Mark de la Vergne, left for another opportunity, according to Duggan’s spokesman John Roach.

“This opportunity brings together my passion for accelerating mobility solutions with my desire to create lasting impact in my local community,” Slusser said in a statement.

Slusser was previously the director of smart mobility initiatives for NextEnergy, a Detroit-based nonprofit that seeks to advance smart mobility and technologies. Slusser also worked in the automotive sector on vehicle electrification. He helped bring the first $6 billion of electric vehicle and energy storage investments in the state and facilitated early partnerships that formed the Power Electronics Industry Collaborative, according to the city.

“Detroit has been a leader of innovation for well over a hundred years. Both the Detroit Center for Innovation and Ford’s Michigan Central Station campus are going to create a whole new range of opportunity for the talent we have in our city,” Duggan said in a statement. “Tim joining the administration couldn’t have come at a more exciting time as we work to build on our history of mobility innovation and to provide more equitable access to these opportunities.”

Slusser graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in energy systems engineering.

 Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: [email protected] or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.