Should we privatize highways?

[GinandTonic]

You really need a city of at least 100,000 to justify having a mass-transit system (and I'm just talking buses, not commuter rail)...any smaller than that and it isn't going to be profitable. There are states that only have one, two cities that size.

Ohio is one of the 10 biggest states, and we only have one city with commuter rail, (Cleveland)...and its scope is really very small. This would crush people who don't live in the 12 largest metropolitan districts.

Over here mass-transit comes in way before 100k. Plenty of villages with pops of say 1000 have a train station (though obviously fast trains dont stop), and while rural buses are a bit rubbish they come online in the upper hundreds or low thousands.

Taking the slow train in most of england is like taking a tube train - the train stops so often it never really gets up to speed.

 

[JerichoHill]

The tech to do it is just now starting to come out. So if it were implemented it would be buggy.

We'd have to eliminate the gas tax, ensure that all American motorists can get new Driver's ID cars with RFID chips, set up a uniform payment system. There would be no competition, so every route would be a monopoly. People already panic over the National ID proposals.

Plus, any firm would need sufficient capital to repair and add on new routes to their monopoly area to respond to demand, necessitating a LARGE AND LIQUID CASH RESERVE. Highways are not cheap. For the Dulles Toll Road (a private highway that runs between NoVa and Dulles Airport) has tolls (free for airport use) but those tolls wont return profits until say...30 years down the road. I don't think a company would like to invest in something that returns profits so much later.

A horrible idea.

 

[Souron]

I wasn't proposing privatizing city streets, only highways. Plus, the overcharging due to monopoly problem could be solved with price regulation, but that would sorta eliminate the point of letting the free market have its go at highways.

Most places only have one highway near them for going in any given direction.

I suppose you could do something like the USPS, give a nonprofit organization a monopoly over the service. Trouble is, creating a system of toll booths would be inconvenient, expensive, and create additional maintenance requirements. Also, as you said, in some cases you'd be replacing a progressive tax with a regressive tax, which is generally bad. OTOH, it would likely decrease existing toll prices, and mean that only those people who actually use the roads have to pay for them. And the USPS has shown itself to be more efficient than the rest of the government.

 

[Fugitive Sisyphus]

I don't think it is a good idea to privatize highways but this issue has little to do with privatized healthcare unlike how some people are trying to make it out to be.

 

[jeps]

Manual tolls would be a nuisance on every onramp, so the companies would have to use a unified electronic payment system. You put a device in your car, enter a highway, and it automatically charges you and charges to the right company. Having ten devices would also be a nuisance.

you mean like transponders on the 407 (ETR)? Yeah it works. But its f'ing annoying too. especially when you DONT pay a toll right away, so you dont think about how much it costs till they email your bill.

 

[emzie]

A city's size is not proportionals to the level of mass transit. Ottawa is half the size of Greater Columbus, yet has a much much better mass transit system.

Why would there be no speed limits? The government doesn't like it when people kill themselves and each other for no reason.

Your southern neighbour, Montana, did it quite effectively for a long while.

 

[jeps]

As does the Autobahn.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I say the only fair system is to lower the taxes and let the people who drive a lot pay for the highways.

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

I say the only fair system is to lower the taxes and let the people who drive a lot pay for the highways.

... no. (10 Bloody Characters)

 

[bhsup]

I say the only fair system is to lower the taxes and let the people who drive a lot pay for the highways.

Which is kind of how it works, what with Federal and State gas taxes and all.

 

[History_Buff]

Your southern neighbour, Montana, did it quite effectively for a long while.

Yeah, but I'm sure they stopped for a reason, just like I'm sure theres a reason just about everywhere has speed limits.

As for the Autobahn, I'm continually impressed they work, although it wouldn't be too hard for you Euros to be much better drivers than the average North American.