How Transportation Built America – And How the Next Surface Transportation Bill Can Build Affordability

Eno Center for Transportation | August 27, 2025

America is approaching its 250th year and a new turning point. At each turning point, new mobility – and a federal policy to match – reshaped the country: canals and steamboats for an agrarian republic; transcontinental rail for industrialization; the Interstate System and commercial aviation for a knowledge economy. While past investments boosted national security, economic growth, and travel safety by connecting rural and urban areas, they came with drawbacks. Railroads and interstates displaced Indigenous communities, exploited labor, and caused uneven prosperity, exclusionary zoning, reinforced biases, pollution, and a car-dominated system that deterred more affordable choices.

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