Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

Talking Headways Podcast: Those Roads Won’t Pay for Themselves

podcast icon logo
Meal delivery is one service of Project Roomkey. Photo: LAHSA

This week we’re joined by Kevin DeGood of the Center for American Progress, who along with Andrew Schwartz recently wrote a report called Advancing a Multimodal Transportation System by Eliminating Funding Restrictions. Sound too wonky? I call it the "Roads Don’t Pay for Themselves Report."

When approximately 5.5 percent of roads carry 55 percent of the traffic, you would expect them to support themselves. But even with conservative accounting, this report shows that’s just not true, especially in urban areas with larger maintenance costs.

We also get into the concept of "user fees," national transportation politics, and the prospect of "devolving" transportation funding to the states, which is a hot topic these days.

Take a listen to this week’s pod and please think multi-modally! And if you enjoy the show, give us a review on iTunes or Stitcher, where you can subscribe to get each week’s episode automatically.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Metro L.A. River Path Project: Delays and Rising Costs

It will likely take leadership from L.A. City and L.A. County elected officials to get Metro's L.A. River path project out of the limbo it has been trapped in for the last half-decade

October 1, 2025

Last Chance for Input on La Puente’s Housing Element Update

Take the survey: building rule changes allow for faster home development, including on church grounds, commercially zoned land, and to replace lost affordable housing

September 30, 2025
See all posts