The starter of this thread is completely misleading on this issue, as was exposed in this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1299709/posts
Forced to adjust his tune several times as one lie after another was exposed by numerous posters.
The bottom line is that this freeway corridor is crowded, with nearly 250,000 more residents added EACH YEAR! Additionally this is the primary corridor for freight coming out of Mexico into the US. Yes the demand is there, ask anyone who has to travel I-35 any weekend, or commute it in San Antonio, Austin, Ft. Worth, and Dallas. The 85 mph speed limit will be a big draw, and by tolling this will be built years before TXDOT could afford to do it. The reason for that is the company can borrow against the long-term future revenue stream, quickly raising capital better than the traditional bonding process. And its a user fee, so you only pay for it if you choose to use it. Far closer to capitalism and conservatism than forcing everyone to pay for roads they may never use by exacting increased taxes without choice.
Thanks for exposing this fraud.
I can take it. I have thick skin. This gentleman obviously is either an insider or has plenty of money to burn. I meet neither of those criteria.
I would like to say that I did effectively rebut every attack on that thread. Let's also get past the capitalism / free market lines. As I said earlier, only when a company, like Flour, can find a need, take a map, draw a straight line from Point A to Point B, clear everything in its path, and then lay concrete, will you have the free market that you dream of. That's what Southwest Airlines did in a true free market. I'm waiting for you to tell me how that's done with surface transportation. The bottom line is that surface transportation will NEVER be free market. So let's move on.
What has the people upset on this thread is that the governor is committing the taxpayers of this state to a $7.2 Billion contract and I challenge anyone to produce a study showing how this project will make any money when side-by-side with a freeway. I'd also like you (or anyone) to post a copy of the following documents:
1) The Request for Proposal
2) The Proposal received and tentatively approved
3) The final contract (hopefully prior to signing)
I can PROMISE you that there will be protections of some kind for this company in those words - or they will not invest $7.2 Billion of their own money - the congestion may be bad, but it's not that bad. That is why the people on this thread can see though your defense of the governor and know they are about to get the shaft.
Let's go one step further. Let's say I-35 does remain a functional freeway. I want to know why on earth any NAFTA truck would ever pay 50 cents or more per mile to drive on the toll road - when the driver is lucky to make that much in the first place. I can think of 2 options:
1) I-35 is impassable either due to neglect or traffic
2) I-35 has its own tolls
Either way that drivers either lose.