Posted on 08/05/2014 8:18:27 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Small wonder Congress has kept federal highway and transit programs teetering on the edge of insolvency for years, unable to find a politically acceptable long-term source of funds. The public can’t make up its mind on how to pay for them either. […]
Among those who drive places multiple times per week, 62 percent say the benefits outweigh the costs. Among those who drive less than once a week or not at all, 55 percent say the costs of road improvement are worthwhile.
Yet a majority of all Americans—58 percent—oppose raising federal gasoline taxes to fund transportation projects such as the repair, replacement or expansion of roads and bridges. Only 14 percent support an increase. And by a better than 2-to-1 margin, Americans oppose having private companies pay for construction of new roads and bridges in exchange for the right to charge tolls. Moving to a usage tax based on how many miles a vehicle drives also draws more opposition than support—40 percent oppose it, while 20 percent support it. …
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
Highway funds should pay for interstate highways. If the military wants to use them, they will. Just like they will use secondary roads if they wish.
Hoping against hope in the face of the evidence of failure of the overall policy?
Takes private morality to create an accountable government too.
And local toll roads do work. No need for eminent domain, because society and roads have always coexisted; the free market can determine what roads go where. (Unless you think that abominations like the Cross-Bronx Expressway are actually good things? Not once you drive on it.)
I never bought that Eisenhower canard. All the German Reichsautobahn network served to accomplish was a quicker penetration of Allied forces to Berlin.
The largest public works project in the US is a socialistic failure. It’ll always be a bottomless pit even if you allegedly put the funds back to what the liars in DC claimed they would be for; because you cannot trust the government.
The states should create and maintain their own roads without subsidies from the Feds.This will also prevent the states from overbuilding highways that are not needed.
As far as private companies running our highways and roadways that would be a non-starter with most of the states I’m sure.
I have heard of No privately maintained highway system anywhere in the U.S. So far.Most of the time they a quasi-public organizations like the M.T.A. In New York City and New York State.
Just look at the condition of their roads.All of that money gets transferred to airports,Railroads,ports and subway facilities while the roads and highways go to hell.
That’s still socialism.
Isn’t it bad enough that the states took over the public transit systems, in just about all cases because they wanted control over them? Why should they be trusted with the road systems?
That’s endemic to government-initiated projects, so the only way to do that is to get government out of the way.
Not if you tried to do it on every>/b> road.
I use a local toll road to drive to work every day. It cost me about 50¢/mile. Most people don't want to see that for every single mile they drive.
No need for eminent domain, because society and roads have always coexisted
Coexisted and worked well are two very different things.
We don't agree at all.
58 percent—oppose raising federal gasoline taxes to fund transportation projects such as the repair, replacement or expansion of roads and bridges.
Was gonna say.....maybe that’s because they know that’s not what the taxes are used for, and they wonder where the rest of the money already collected has gone.
You don’t know that.
If it’s a trade-off between no fuel tax and tolls, the toll would be the winner.
Toll roads in the past did not have a tollhouse every mile, so that’s an absurd inference with no basis in history.
Please tell me more describing what I don't know.
Toll roads in the past did not have a tollhouse every mile
Some did. And the ones I drive don't, they charge larger amounts every few miles.
If each individual road is going to have a toll, including roads separated by only hundreds of feet, please explain how that would work.
I was talking in generalities.
Toll roads only work on a very limited basis like passenger rail and the definition of “working” is shaky at best. Not all roads are created equally, nor should they be.
I live on a dirt street, which leads to a paved street which leads to paved and dirt country roads, which lead to a state highway which lead to interstates. My street only has two houses on it and would never produce enough revenue to even bother with. (personally I’d like to have it declared abandoned by the county)
The problem is misappropriation. There is more than enough money for interstates if that’s where the money were going.
The only limits to the basis are government intervention. Passenger rail cannot be broken into by private companies anymore thanks to incredibly complex regulation; and thanks to too much government intervention in the highway system, road tolling becomes a double-hit economically on the user.
Greatly agree!
We don't agree on the role of government in this area. I have experienced owning property where the road was private property and 90% of the owners considered it someone else's responsibility to maintain.
I currently have property with about a mile of private drive, as one of the two largest property owners, I and the larger owner are planning to have the road upgraded to parish standards so that the parish will accept ownership of it.
To suggest all roads should be private and government should have no role in their development and maintenance is to be ignorant of history.
I'll bet half of the current taxes paid don't even see a road or a highway
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