Posted on 01/14/2008 2:00:05 PM PST by decimon
‘In fact, our research suggests that it will only make the problem worse,”
I’m quite shocked, really I am. I mean the whole concept that selling a road to a foreign owned company isn’t a good idea is sooo hard to fathom.
/sarc
Why in the sam hell would we sign on to privatizing roads our gas taxes paid for? What the hell is wrong with people?
We slam everyone for raising taxes, then we gleefully anticipate toll booths across this great nation.
Just damn. Is everyone on prozac but me?
While we’re on the subject of toll roads, a new exit has fairly recently sprung up on a section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that I frequent, which is restricted to EZPass vehicles only. What do FReepers think about publicly financed roads that have sections which you cannot legally drive on without having your vehicle’s movement tracked and recorded by the government. I find it pretty disturbing. I understand there’s a cost-saving issue with having full-time toll collector coverage at a little used exit. However, if an exit gets so little use that it doesn’t warrant one toll collector on duty, I don’t know if it really warrants the road contruction and maintenance costs either.
“We slam everyone for raising taxes, then we gleefully anticipate toll booths across this great nation.”
The amount of money these toll roads rake in is pretty amazing. One here in Central Florida rakes in a million dollars a day. They sure don’t spend $300 million a year on keeping it up.
Demand those toll booths to be removed. It’s nothing but bald face tyranny.
Those booths go against everything we stand for.
Toll roads require additional construction for toll booths,adinistration etc. Gas taxes require nothing more than we already have.
You do the math.
You’re damn straight they don’t. First they steal your gas taxes. Then they toll you to death. Then they misdirect those tolls as well. And then they spout the need to raise taxes anyway, or else cut state parks, libraries, police or fire staff, and schools.
It’s time to start figuratively stringing up some of our political officials.
We need to roll back this nonsense, and today is a great day to start.
Well, in Indiana, we got almost $4 billion for our toll road. Cash. Our state can use that money to fund construction projects throughout the state to improve congestion and increase the quality of our state's roads. Seems like a good reason to me.
Well it isn’t. That road is your property. You sell it and you’ll pay out 20 billion and you’ll still be paying.
If your state needs $4 billion, it can find it within the current budget after it cancels the liberal graft.
Don’t sucker for this. This is one road. Next it will be every other road and every other bridge. Don’t do it.
I don’t have a problem with toll roads, as long as they don’t have the effect of really blocking travel between any two points to anyone not using them and paying the toll. They seem consistent with the principle of expecting people to pay their own way rather than government (read: taxpayers) providing them with everything they want, including a huge network of well-maintained highways.
Theoretically, private toll roads are okay with me too, as long as the private owner/buyer has to pay legitimate market rate for them, and no eminent domain is or was used in acquiring the land for them. In practice, of course, that means none of the currently proposed private toll roads would get my support. But if a private party wanted to buy up land on the free market, build a road on it, and charge the public to use it, that would be fine with me. Private property is private property and the owner should be free to decide who may enter it and on what terms.
It’s called “asset management”, where a government turns over a public resource to a private company for management and maintenence. A lot of municipalities in Florida do that with bridges, since we have a lot of moveable drawbridges. I do not believe that ‘private’ toll roads would be free if they were not in asset management - the tolls are a mitigation of roadway costs so they don’t have to sell as many bonds to pay for them.
How about we lease the road, keep the $4 billion, and still cut graft? Then we've got even more money.
That road is your property.
Still is. The road is on a 75 year lease.
This is one road. Next it will be every other road and every other bridge. Don’t do it.
Ok, I'll bite: so what? I wouldn't oppose private ownership of roads. It would probably tend to make the system more efficient.
It’s called ripping you off. Your gas taxes paid for the highway. Now you’re going to let the state sell it, you’ll still get charged to travel down the highway, and you’ll still pay gas taxes.
Heavens, if I were a state official and I knew folks were that well challenged, I’d probably try to sell this plan too.
Bud, you already paid for the highway. Now you’re going to pay a private concern to use it. And on top of that, you’ll pay gas taxes which WILL NOT be used for maintenance on the highway.
You have gifted the state the cost of the highway, they sold it, you’ll still be charged to use it, and you’ll still be paying taxes.
Let’s take your example to the extreme if it’s a good idea.
Sell every road in the state. Then let the state still collect your gas taxes, and then pay tolls on all the highways.
Tell me what the gas tax will then be used for?
Not to fund the "sold" highway, though. That's what the tolls are for. As it was, the people of the state of Indiana were subsidizing interstate traffic from the east coast to Chicago. We don't do that any longer, and a company gave us $4 billion. Thanks, Mitch.
Mitch, how much did your gas taxes go down?
And Mitch, please... we all subsidize out of staters on our highways. And they subsidize us on theirs.
I won't be paying taxes for the maintenance of that road; I'll be paying taxes for the construction and the maintenance of other roads in Indiana. Moreover, my taxes would be other than they otherwise would be because the state is using the $4 billion (and the $7/second in interest that it earns on the money) to fund construction projects throughout the state, like the Super 70 project or the extension of I-69.
Because no government agency on any level wants to spend money on roads. Not sexy enough.
We are heading to a day where it will be impossible to drive from state to state with out "papers" from some private firm.
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