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The road in question isn't really a public, state-built road. https://www.expresslanes.com/project-background https://www.expresslanes.com/project-background

The road in question isn't really a public, state-built road. https://www.expresslanes.com/project-background https://www.expresslanes.com/project-background > In 2007, VDOT finalized a long-term partnership agreement with Capital Beltway Express, LLC – a consortium led by Transurban that would design, build, operate, finance and maintain the $2 billion HOT lanes project. Transurban and its partners provided a substantial upfront equity commitment to help fund construction and financed the rest of the project through private activity bonds and a TIFIA loan. The partnership enabled Virginia to leverage private capital to translate every one state tax dollar into four dollars of transportation improvements. >Construction, managed by Fluor-Lane, began in 2008 and the new lanes opened for business in 2012. >In 2014, Transurban invested an additional $280 million of equity to put the project on solid financial footing following impacts of the global financial crisis. The private sector has assumed the long-term financial risk for the project, including full responsibility to pay back all project debt.

SamBam 10y ago
That's just privatization of the government's sphere. It was still done on public lands, under the state's direction and in the state's interest. It was a deliberate choice to have someone else build it -- and allow price-gouging -- than to build it themselves. I don't think privatized prisons charging $14/minute for phone calls is a good thing either, even if the "market" (prisoners needing to call their lawyers, and having no other options, etc.) allows it.
Spooky23 10y ago
The term of art is "public private partnership". It's a ridiculous notion -- the government has the ability to raise capital far more cheaply than private capital markets, and revenue from toll-roads is one of the most reliable revenue streams that exist. It's not zero-risk, but pretty close. It's just a scheme to move debt to somebody else's books, and make more money for various parties. It also provides fertile ground to re-direct anger from government operational incompetence or underinvestment, like plowing in such a way that you create miles of gridlock instead of doing things like pre-treating the road surface to avoid plowing during peak travel times.

SamBam 10y ago

That's just privatization of the government's sphere. It was still done on public lands, under the state's direction and in the state's interest. It was a deliberate choice to have someone else build it -- and allow price-gouging -- than to build it themselves. I don't think privatized prisons charging $14/minute for phone calls is a good thing either, even if the "market" (prisoners needing to call their lawyers, and having no other options, etc.) allows it.

Spooky23 10y ago

The term of art is "public private partnership". It's a ridiculous notion -- the government has the ability to raise capital far more cheaply than private capital markets, and revenue from toll-roads is one of the most reliable revenue streams that exist. It's not zero-risk, but pretty close. It's just a scheme to move debt to somebody else's books, and make more money for various parties. It also provides fertile ground to re-direct anger from government operational incompetence or underinvestment, like plowing in such a way that you create miles of gridlock instead of doing things like pre-treating the road surface to avoid plowing during peak travel times.