“Why do you have such a hate-fest over toll roads?
The owners of such roads want to maximize their profits, so when they see that there isn’t enough capacity to meet demand, they will expand the road... unlike the government.”
In that case, let them have their highways, IN THE FREE MARKET. Let them buy the land (not steal it), build the roads, and operate it, WITHOUT MONOPOLY PROTECTION (i.e., non-compete clauses).
But no, it NEVER happens that way. Instead you have AIRHEAD GOVERNORS, like the ones in Indiana and Texas, who sell out their states’ futures in return for some nice dinners and quick cash so they can brag about ‘balanced budgets’ when they run for president.
So when you can point me to FREE MARKET at work, rather than Crony Capitalist dealing, then you’ll find me more receptive. Until then I will not be any more supportive of this crap than I am of deals like Solyndra, because it’s basically the same thing.
And by the way, I’ve driven on many thousands of miles of PUBLICLY OWNED highways that were often much better than your precious toll roads.
Selling pre-built highways to companies isn’t selling out the state’s future. Usually, the company only has it for a fixed duration, during which they’ll improve and expand the road based on profit and traffic (demand). Afterwards, the road reverts to state control (and all the improvements, too).
Secondly, non-competition clauses are d@#n near impossible to enforce, as it would only apply to another company buying another state road that goes to the same places as the first one. And how many states have multiple state highways lying around that are going to the exact same places? Most don’t...
As for lack of bidding for the roads in the first place... that’s the only problem I see on this and could be easily fixed if people would inundate their politicians explaining that there should be open bidding for such projects.