> This is simply not true. Secondly, the restrictions around urban development are self-imposed at either the State or Local level. Made possible by the unendi

> This is simply not true. Secondly, the restrictions around urban development are self-imposed at either the State or Local level. Made possible by the unending spigot of funding for laying down asphalt. These decisions become less and less tenable when the underlying substructure goes away. What’s more is that it’s not even accurate. There is no equivalent federal impetus behind building walkable neighborhoods and transit the way there is to subsidize the maintenance of road expansions and interchanges. 4 out of 5 federal transit dollars go to highways. And it even goes into what we do through industrial policy. We didn’t bail out people who make trains or buses, we made the auto industry the national manufacturing priority. For God’s sake the government doesn’t even build railroads. They’re all private and leased. > Just how much has the CA never-to-be-completed train cost again? A fraction of DoT funding to serve way less dense population clusters. What’s more, transit projects get decided in ways that are lousy with veto points while highway funding just gets put through with little resistance.