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In
The Drive for Dollars, Jeffrey R. Brown, Eric A. Morris, and Brian D. Taylor tell the largely misunderstood story of how freeways became the centerpiece of US urban transportation systems, and the crucial, though usually overlooked, role of fiscal politics in bringing them about. With the nation's transportation finance system at a crossroads, this book sheds light on how we can best fund and plan transportation in the future. The authors offer a way forward that will spread the financial burden more equitably, provide travelers with better mobility, build more appealing communities, and safeguard the planet.
List of contents
- Preface
- Part I Overview and Introduction
- Chapter 1: Cities, Cars, and Freeways
- Chapter 2: Urban and Rural Road Planning and Finance Before the Automobile
- Part II Planning and Financing Roads for Autos Before Freeways
- Chapter 3: Planning and Paying for Streets in Cities in the Pre-Freeway Automobile Era
- Chapter 4: Planning and Paying for Highways Between Cities in the Pre-Freeway Era
- Part III Planning and Finance in the Early Freeway Era
- Chapter 5: Planning Highways in Cities in the Pre-Interstate Era
- Chapter 6: Planning and Financing Highways Between Cities in the Pre-Interstate Era
- Chapter 7: Financing Freeways in the Postwar Era
- Part IV The Interstate Era and Its Enduring Legacy
- Chapter 8: The Rise of the Interstate Era
- Chapter 9: The Fall of the Interstate Era
- Chapter 10: Turning Back the Clock: Finance and Planning in the Post-Freeway Era
- Chapter 11: Conclusion: Groping for a Post-Freeway Consensus
- References
- Notes
- Index
About the author
Brian D. Taylor is a Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCLA. He studies travel behavior and transportation equity, finance, history, and politics. His recent research examines the role of public finance in shaping transportation systems and travel outcomes, the socio-economic dimensions of travel behavior, and the effects of traffic congestion on regional economies and housing production, and public transit use and finance prior to and during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eric A. Morris is Professor of City and Regional Planning at Clemson University, where in addition to transportation history, he studies the links between transportation and geography and activity patterns, happiness, and quality of life. He attended Harvard for his undergraduate work, and after a decade writing for television programs in Los Angeles received an M.A. and a PhD. in urban planning from UCLA. While a doctoral student, he wrote a column on transportation and urbanization for the
New York Times'
Freakonomics blog.
Jeffrey R. Brown is Professor and Chairperson in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida State University. His interest in transportation dates to his childhood in Southern California where an early fascination with the extensive local freeway system grew into a curiosity about cars, trains, buses, and planes and how their use shaped cities and affected the lives of city residents.
Summary
The story of the interplay between finance, freeways, and urban form in the 20th century and their enduring impact on American cities and neighborhoods in the 21st.
American cities are distinct from almost all others in the degree to which freeways and freeway travel dominate urban landscapes. In The Drive for Dollars, Brian D. Taylor, Eric A. Morris, and Jeffrey R. Brown tell the largely misunderstood story of how freeways became the centerpiece of U.S. urban transportation systems, and the crucial, though usually overlooked, role of fiscal politics in bringing freeways about. The authors chronicle how the ways that we both raise and spend transportation revenue have shaped our transportation system and the lives of those who use it, from the era before the automobile to the present day. They focus on how the development of one revolutionary type of road--the freeway--was inextricably intertwined with money. With the nation's transportation finance system at a crossroads today, this book sheds light on how we can best fund and plan transportation in the future. The authors draw on these lessons to offer ways forward to pay for transportation more equitably, provide travelers with better mobility, and increase environmental sustainability and urban livability.
Additional text
This volume is a must read for all those interested in urban planning.
