[jimbergin]

"While that's true, the people pushing for toll roads are, in effect, doing the same thing here - considering that the gas tax can get just as much accomplished at one tenth of the cost per mile."

do you have a source for your claim that a gas tax paid for road only costs 1/10th the cost of a toll road?? I find that hard to believe.

[BobL]

"do you have a source for your claim that a gas tax paid for road only costs 1/10th the cost of a toll road?? I find that hard to believe."

It is tough to believe, but the gas tax is 2 cents per mile here in Texas (if you get 20 MPG, lower if you get more). Tolls on our 4000 miles of private toll roads will be on the order of 20 cents per mile, as they are in Canada (same company, some monopoly for them). While it's true that we can't build much for 2 cents per mile (40 cents per gallon), we can build a heck of a lot for 3 cents per mile.

I just have a problem with summarily jettisoning the freeway system in this country, for toll roads, when the only reason for doing so is a bunch of Republicans that treat government highway spending no different than government welfare spending.