[frankthetank]

Link

I once drove from MN to OH (Cedar Point baby!) and swear i paid more in tolls then i did in gas (@ the time gas was 1.10ish)...

I do however agree that people who use it more, should pay more.




(url edited by jato)

[Leanan]

Dubya wants to privatize the transportation grid. Instead of the government building highways, private companies would. They would then be allowed to collect tolls, with an EZ-Pass type system. IOW, really souped up "Lexus lanes."

I think they are hoping this kind of privately-owned road would provide an economic boom, like the dot-coms did in the '90s. New companies to invest in, new jobs, etc. Iraq didn't do that, so now they're looking for something else.

[BiGG]

Privatized roads are ok with me, I haven’t seen the government do anything cheaper then the private sector and have a feeling to same will go for roads. It's gotta be cheaper for US all in the long run.


BTW: Ouch! That link! A hint you can use to edit that into something we don’t have to scroll back & forth to read ….

1.Click the edit button and the link will look link this …

[URL=http://www.webpage.com]Webpage Title[/URL[

2. Where it says “Webpage Title”, delete just the part that says “Webpage Title” and type in something like “See story here”

3. Click submit and it will be corrected.

In the future when you post a link, paste the link into the box and click “OK” once, you will now see where the same box says “Webpage Title”, add your title there before clicking OK again and it will automatically be added.

(url editeed by jato)

[jaws]

Privatizing the highway system would do more to reign in sprawl than any other measure. Demand for urban housing and alternative transportation would skyrocket.

[EddieB]

Sorry, but I have to disagree about privatizing roads. I think privatizing roads is a bad idea because they are natural monopolies. You can argue that "taking another road" is always an option, but in fact it isn't. If you live right by a toll booth you can't get around it. Things that are useful to the public - roads, railroads, waterways, water supplies - should have governement oversight. That's not to say we do it right... but privatizing could make things much worse.
Subisidizing interstates the way we have was a terrible misallocation of resources, I know. But argueing in favor of letting businesses control commerce in natural monopolies isn't going to solve the problem.

[kenohio]

I think toll roads make some sense in certain situations, but they SHOULD NOT replace the existing highway system.

The only benefit that I can see to having private industry take over the highway system would be if we are actually at Peak Oil and highway traffic and the tax base to support highways is going to go into rapid decline.

I am more of a transitional believer, so I don't think we are headed for Doom and Gloom overnight. I think we will see some major changes over the next fifty years, but nothing so stark as some predict.

[frankthetank]

Hopefully by the time tolls start to affect me, i'll be paying $7/gal for gasoline and then i'll just park the car and store my tools/what not...bicycles won't be affected..i hopes

If implemented correctly it would MAYBE work (like getting rid of some other taxes)...but that never happens in this country, so were doomed

[smallpoxgirl]

I say they put a $15 per mile toll on all the roads in New England. Just be one more reason for me not to go there.

Places I want to live, too many deer on the roads are a bigger problem than too many people.

[jaws]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EddieB', 'S')orry, but I have to disagree about privatizing roads. I think privatizing roads is a bad idea because they are natural monopolies. You can argue that "taking another road" is always an option, but in fact it isn't. If you live right by a toll booth you can't get around it. Things that are useful to the public - roads, railroads, waterways, water supplies - should have governement oversight. That's not to say we do it right... but privatizing could make things much worse.
Subisidizing interstates the way we have was a terrible misallocation of resources, I know. But argueing in favor of letting businesses control commerce in natural monopolies isn't going to solve the problem.

[sventvkg]

peak oil not withstanding, i'm sorry but as an American, I have the inherent right to go where I want and be free...I'm not paying a toll to travel...These roads are ours, we've paid for them from the begining and have continued to do so..The Government has zero constitutional authority to simply give them away and mandate that we have to pay to travel the roads in our own country..I do not care what anyone says...This is Flat out Bulll$%&T.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

back when the berlin wall fell a guy I know made the comment that the eastern block countries were wrong to insist on check points all over the place. He said it cost too much to keep up that kind of infrastructure. all they had to do was put tolls everywhere and people wouldn't be able to afford to move freely. that made a lot of sense to me. wonder if that is part of their plan for the future USSA.

[frankthetank]

Living by a series of rivers, i would add that water travel is total accessible free of charge by anyone with the means...I will add that most of the wear of interstates & highways would probably come from semis (from what others here have said). I could just imagine the outrage by truckers!

[Vexed]

From my own experience, toll stations, such as those dotting the highways between Orlando and the Everglades in Florida, are a big pain in the ass.

I paid more to use the highways than I did for gas.

I felt that I spent more time in residential neighborhoods trying to get around the toll booths than I spent actually driving on the freeway.

I choked on fumes everytime I rolled down my wndow at the station.

I got lost - something I like to do - and then realized I had to pay again to turn around and head in a new direction.

All in all, toll booths would probably be a great way of limiting highway use.

I mean really, only the rich should be able to get to where they want to go anyway. Right?

[Vexed]

Oh, and I should also point out, endlessly searching for exact change is a daunting task.

If you keep a roll of qurters with you at all times, you should be O.K.

But if not, be prepared to make many stops looking for folks who can break that twenty.

[TrueKaiser]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jaws', 'P')rivatizing the highway system would do more to reign in sprawl than any other measure. Demand for urban housing and alternative transportation would skyrocket.

[Leanan]

If it weren't for peak oil, I'd be against privatizing the roads. Just like I'd be against privatizing the postal service. The problem is that only the most profitable routes would be served. Everyone else would get screwed.

But now...I think spending billions of dollars on the transportation grid is a waste of taxpayers' money. How much longer are we going to be using those roads? Probably not much longer. Even if the whole car economy doesn't go belly-up, there will probably be a lot fewer cars on the road, as people cut back on their driving. Better to spend the money on public transporation or alternative energy.

So let private companies have the roads. I won't be investing in them.

[jaws]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TrueKaiser', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jaws', 'P')rivatizing the highway system would do more to reign in sprawl than any other measure. Demand for urban housing and alternative transportation would skyrocket.

[Leanan]

Quite right. People are willing to pay almost any price for a car.

We see that in China now. Traffic and smog have become such a problem that the Chinese government decided to auction car ownership permits. The price of them quickly spiked to $5,000...and still rising. The permit may cost more than the car, but people are still willing to pay.

[mgibbons19]

I don't know if privatizing is the right way to go, but at the very least, the toll booths start to move us from the "free good" that autmotive travel has become. The costs of travel are hidden and subsidized, and leave the economical consumer no way to opt out for saving's sake. Treating one kind of transportation as a free good is partly to blame for having gotten us into this mess.