Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Podcast

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

podcast icon logo

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 USA

Friday’s Headlines Are Over ICE

Traffic safety and transportation funding continue to get tangled up in immigration enforcement under Trump.

February 20, 2026

Talking Headways Podcast: Women Changing Cities

Chris and Melissa Bruntlett on their new book and the mobility of care work and the unpaid labor that undergirds the economy.

February 19, 2026

Calif. Advocates Stand Against Proposed Nuisance E-Bike Laws

...and for enforcement of good e-moto laws already on the books.

February 19, 2026

Thursday’s Headlines Walk Hard

Where you live probably has a lot to do with how much you walk.

February 19, 2026

When The Suburbs Want To Opt Out of Funding Regional Transit

A messy transit funding fight in Dallas may have reached a pause — but some advocates fear the détente won't hold.

February 19, 2026
See all posts