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Open Access Publications from the University of California

The Drive for Dollars: How Fiscal Politics Shaped Urban Freeways and Transformed American Cities

Abstract

How did America and the Golden State come to mass produce urban freeways, particularly Interstate Highways, in the three decades following World War II? How did we finance this massive public expenditure, which at the time was the largest infrastructure project the world had ever seen? And what role did finance play in the system’s successes and failures? The answers to these questions hold lessons for transportation finance and planning today.