Posted on 04/01/2008 4:35:38 PM PDT by GoldwaterInstitute
Don’t Give Up on Toll Roads : The Private Sector Can Pave the Way
Byron Schlomach. Goldwater Institute Daily Email. April 01, 2008
The Arizona Senate recently rejected bills that would have allowed new, state-owned roads to be constructed with private money as toll roads. Let’s hope the idea resurfaces soon.
Toll roads make sense. They provide access to large sources of private capital – a real boon to a financially strapped state. Arizona could get several highways built today without spending a penny, if it would simply let the private sector help.
Private companies tend to insist that roads be built where they are most needed, as opposed to building a bridge to nowhere. And, in an effort to hold down costs, roads are constructed well, but without needless bells and whistles that builders contracting with the bureaucracy are sometimes too anxious to build.
Private sector partners also assume some of the financial risk and thus have no incentive to underbid a project and come back for more funds later.
Finally, private sector companies bring new talent and innovation. For example, a privately held company recently solved a 30-year impasse that had prevented conclusion of the Paris, France ring road – by building a tunnel under Versailles.
The weaknesses inherent in a tax-funded road system have shown themselves again and again. Congressional earmarks spend transportation funds on pet projects instead of truly needed ones. States can’t collect enough from gas taxes to fund every road they need. Meanwhile, drivers suffer in rush-hour gridlock, waiting for the current funding system to solve today’s problems in 20 to 50 years.
Twenty-one states are building toll roads. Arizona should follow suit.
Dr. Byron Schlomach is the director of the center for economic prosperity at the Goldwater Institute.
The problem with toll roads is that our taxes will never go down, and we’ll also be paying a toll. It’ll be double taxation.
Not really. Your tax dollars won’t support the road that private industry builds. If you never drive on that road, you’ll pay nothing for it. It sounds like a much better arrangement. The users pay the costs.
So I assume that I will get a refund for the pretaxed gas that I use to drive on that private toll road and that the owners of the toll road will pick up the cost for police and highway patrols along their road?
Another thing is that state built roads get built at such a slow rate that they're obsolete before they open. I-35 between San Antonio and Hillsboro, TX is being widened to 3 lanes. Three lanes were needed in 1990 when the widening project was started. I doubt it will be finished by 2020. When you consider San Antonio, Austin and D/FW are all located along I-35, and are among the four fastest growing metropolitan areas in the entire United States you might get an idea of how inadequate the existing upgrade plans are for I-35. I did say they were three of the four fastest growing metro areas in the country. Well they other city in the top four is Houston. The whole triangle between D/FW, SA/Austin, an Houston/Galveston contains all four of the four fastest growing metro areas in the country. Just mererly expanding the capacity of existing roads isn't going to fix the mobility problem in the Texas Triangle.
My gas taxes went to Boston to keep Ted Kennedy and John Kerry in office. The states that generate the most fuel tax revenue (CA, TX, and FL) are lucky if they get back 75% of the money they send to Washington.
Here in Indiana we build toll roads and then sell them to Australia. Then they raise the tolls.
If private road builders can come up with enough cash to buy out private property owners without resorting to using the state’s imminent domain power, I don’t have a problem with this.
eminent domain, stupid moron...
I think we should open a toll booth upon entering NC. The cost? Twice as much if you're going south as if you going north. Maybe we can slow down those crazies coming to this state driving like they are on the NJ turnpike. And make them pay like they do us!
That's ludicrous. Lot's of privately financed transportation projects obtain rights of way through state eminent domain. Without eminent domain one holdout can extort tremendously higher prices. That isn't fair to the other land owners.
That way, the govt can specify standards.
Don’t buy it (literally!!). Toll roads are like playing the lottery - they’re a tax on stupidity.
In AZ, the state lottery funds roads.
The NJ Tpk. was built with state funds, not federal. NJ was therefore permitted to charge tolls to pay off bonds and for maintenance. Much the same as I80 in IN and the Thruway in NY. Perhaps if NC had built it’s section of I95 instead of having the feds do it for them, you would get the tolls you are suggesting.
Not no, but hell f---ing no! I pay out a large fee on top of my cost of gasoline every time I fill up at a gas station. So do hundreds of millions of other U.S. Citizens. Who in their right mind can claim that it would be a good idea to devise another revenue stream for the government?
Honest to God folks, have we as U.S. Citizens lost our fricken minds? Will our gas taxes be reduced if we pay out $2 every twenty-five miles as we travel down the highway? Of course not. We'll still be paying the same gas taxes, plus a new toll fee... shere insanity.
Folks who propose this are absolutely nuts.
Here are more great ideas. We can't increase property taxes in California, so let's introduce a new curb tax. For every foot of curbs that abut our property, we'll pay $1,000 to the state. Let's start a new window fee. For every square inch of windows in homes, we'll pay out $10.00 the the state. Let's start a new tree fee. For every tree on our property we'll pay out $250 per year in fees to the state. How about televisions. For every television we have, we should pay out $500 in fees to the state.
Why would any of these fees be any less stupid than a stupid assed road toll road fee? Folks, quit buying into any increased fees. If you've already paid for those highways, and you have, why should you back selling that road to a private concern so you'll have to pay for them again?
Thanks for your opinon. Now Stay home, and everything will work out.
Toll roads and partners, like other states are doing, where foreign entities benefit?
Many of the planned new roads in Arizona are really a conduit for Chinese trade. They are either Canamex or Canamex related, which is our state’s version of the Trans Texas Corridor, TTC.
This will connect Mexico, the US and Canada.
A giant step toward globalism.....
No toll roads/corridors!!!
“So I assume that I will get a refund for the pretaxed gas that I use to drive on that private toll road and that the owners of the toll road will pick up the cost for police and highway patrols along their road?”
The same Govt that charges us twice when we send kids to private school or have no kids would give you *that* sweet deal?!? The same govt that takes away 15% of our ‘incomes’ to give us “social security” when in fact we’d have mroe security if we could opt out of it and save our own $$$ but hog-ties us to that Ponzi scheme?!? Dream on.
Private toll roads are theoretically a great idea, but get politically dangerous since its easy to have the appearance (or the reality) of insider-dealing, where a politically-connected private company gets a nice deal.
As with much in life:
Done right, it works; done wrong, it stinks.
“My gas taxes went to Boston to keep Ted Kennedy and John Kerry in office. The states that generate the most fuel tax revenue (CA, TX, and FL) are lucky if they get back 75% of the money they send to Washington.”
Here in Texas there are 3 things that are forcing more toll roads:
1. We havent raised state gas tax since 1991, and lege members are scared to tie it to inflation. (yeah, they can pass a brand-new business tax for $4 billion, but cant fix the gas tax to increase like any real sales tax, go figure.)
2. We get less than 80 cents on the dollar we send to the Federal govt.
3. We divert a billion of gas tax money for education and another big chunk for DPS.
If we fixed these 3 things, we would not have the TxDOT cash crunch that is forcing toll road building.
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