Crazy libertarians: Private Roads
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
Uncle Pays the Bills
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July 1st, 2010 at 9:45 am
But who will build teh roadz?
July 1st, 2010 at 10:30 am
I’m with bwm. Did the gov build the roads or use eminent domain to get the land? If so you’re still dependent on them.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:44 am
Well, that’s an argument I’ve had before and it took quite a while in meatspace to go over, doubt I can sum it up properly in this comment box, but I’ll try.
A family member of mine works for the accounting dept for the D.O.T. and often deals with people who have land that roadways need to be expanded upon / through / etc.
This is going to be hard for a lot of people to believe, I assure you, but it turns out that when someone thinks they’re selling to a private company, they ask what the market generally pays for land. If they’re poorer, they have a tendency to accept any offer, even if it’s well below market value.
Then, when they find out the private company is working for the state, nearly every single time, they change their mind and ask outrageously inflated prices, assuming the gov’t has bottomless pockets and will pay $10,000 per square inch for a piece of land they were willing to sell for $1000 total. Then, when that happens, the state realizes it’s cheaper to go through the courts and get it taken via ED which I disagree with, but there you have it.
Like Uncle, I’m not a 130% Rated Pure Libertarian. Major highways are definitely something I can delegate to a state gov’t to haggle over, purchase, and develop and maintain with the taxes on my tag / driver’s license. But it *is* possible to privatize roads and still be able to get your pizza delivered to you in 30 minutes or less.
And my local Toll roads are impeccable, never crowded, have 0 cops on them (the toll authority gets pissy when the cops chase off their customers), and if your engine light turns on during your commute, there’s assistance available within minutes.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:08 am
My comment was 100% tongue in cheek. I score 160 on the test, if you’re ever curious where I stand on anything.
People need roads, roads will get built – with or without gov’t.
July 1st, 2010 at 6:19 pm
But these aren’t private roads. They’re roads efficiently managed by what’s essentially an autonomous state agency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Texas_Tollway_Authority
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_tollways
And it’s not even like thy’re going it alone, without help from the taxpayer/state:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/transportation/stories/012010dnmetntta.989a09f7.html
Not seeing anything that the NTTA is doing that a DOT commissioner that didn’t have their head up their ass couldn’t. So if you’re arguing that this is proof that efficiently managed roads can work, great. If the argument is that they’re doing something that private enterprise/ownership is uniquely capable of, please enlighten me.