TBD

TBD on Ning

I see that there is a New Transportation Bill being worked on in the House. I understand that the bill includes incentives for the building of priviatly owned toll roads. I find this interesting.

I am curious as to who would want privately owned toll roads.

Can anyone here explain why we would want such roads built?

Tags: Freeways, Taxes, fees, roads, toll, user

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Many of Texas new major roads are now private toll roads owned by fourinurs. Just like almost all beer companies.

Well, I would bet that if you were privy to the tax incentives and other accounting maneuvers you would see that investors have not lost any money. If it was a losing proposition, there would be no investors.

Sometimes existing roads are turned into toll roads. Sometimes the State funds all or part of the expense of building the road and then uses part of the income to fund other activities.

Once the road is built as a toll road, the cost to travel it almost always increases periodically. The state may hire contractors to operate it and maintain it. If it happens (rarely) to be self supporting and is well run, most of the traffic traveling the route will use the toll road. The State will then not spend as much money maintaining other roads along the route. As those roads deteriorate, more traffic will use the toll road. At that point, for any number of stated reasons, tolls will start to increase. Now you are locked in to using the toll road. Your cost is now dramatically higher.

Drive an interstate. Look at the number of large trucks transporting goods. Virtually everything you use or consume is transported across those roads. You are going to pay for the construction and maintenance of that road under any circumstance.

The often heard reason for having toll roads is; if I don't use the road, I shouldn't have to pay for it.

I bet there are very few who do not, in some way, depend on our major highway system.

Early in the history of this country we had many toll roads and toll bridges. With the advent of motorized vehicles the government started taking over the building of highways. The country entered into a period of phenomenal growth. Very few toll roads were built. Almost all roads were built and maintained by taxes. Did roads freely used by everyone contribute to that growth? I think so.

Why would we now want to abandon a system that has worked so well?

I should stop now, but I have one more observation.

In both Texas and Florida I have encountered toll roads that require you to have an EZ pass in order to use them. Previously, we had people collecting tolls. Then we gradually went to the use of credit cards. Now you can not enter or exit many unless you have an EZ pass. And to make it worse; an EZ pass that I purchased in Virginia would not work in Texas.

What do the freedom loving tea party members say about this? Do they still support toll roads?

Ok, I'll hang up for now.

Hope to see some other comments on here.   

A TBD friend of mine coming to Houston from out of state got trapped on a EZ pass tollroad in Houston.  She was lucky not to spend any jail time.

 

And if governor Good Hair had gotten his way there would have a Hell of a big one running from the gulf to

Canada. What a dumbass!!!

That was one of the reasons he lost the Texas Farm Bureau endorsement.

What do the freedom loving tea party members say about this? Do they still support toll roads? End Quote.

No it’s the tax and spend liberals just trying to sneak thru another tax increase on us.
Isn’t politics fun?
If you can’t fix it, tax it.

What the hell are you talking about darroll? Find me a liberal that proposes toll roads.

I guess you consider the governor of Texas a Liberal?

Do you consider the Republicans who are introducing the legislation into a transportation bill to provide incentives for toll roads Liberals?

Some people in Texas consider the governor of Texas a Liberal.

Perhaps it's a stimulus proposal.  Get those quarters back in circulation!

Some people that I know in Texas think Atilla the Hun was a Liberal.

They raised the tolls in NJ. The parkway was 50 cents now it is 75 cents and there are a lot of toll booths on it. I don't see them fixing the pot holes and fixing anything on the RDs.

There is one more thing to consider in this debate. Because cars generally get much better gas mileage and even some completely electric cars are now on the roads less gas is used. Money for most highways comes from gas taxes so the amount of money being collected is decreasing. Another source of revenue for roads will have to be found somewhere. Our lovely governor has proposed a $1000 car tags fee. That ought to go over well.

My solution would be to make all those big trucks pay there fair share. Ninety percent of the damage to major highways is from the trucks yet they generally pay about the same tax per gallon as drivers of cars. All that freight could be hauled much cheaper on railroads anyway if we did not subsidize the trucking industry by paying for the roads they drive on. In Europe the largest trucks on the roads are about 1/2 the size of the ones on our roads and their roads last three times as long. They use the trains to move most freight.

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