Private roadnet?

[BeBMan]

There is some discussion here about privatizing the Autobahns. Currently, only heavy cargo trucks have to pay a fee for using them, the so-called "Maut". AFAIK this is like in several other countries, although the exact rules vary a lot. But if they now privatize those highways completely, everyone using it would have to pay.

How is it in your country?

[Sava]

privatizing roads?

what kind of god-awful libertarian hell idea is that?

[aneeshm]

It's not a bad idea , if implemented properly .

The government runs a skeletal roadnet ( primarily for use during military emergencies ) . The highways are not privatised , but new ones can be built by private agencies .

To give you an example of properly implemented private roads - look to the Pune-Mumbai ( formerly Bombay ) expressway . A company saw that the government-maintained highway connecting the two cities was not capable of carrying much traffic at any decent speed , and that road was also bad qualitywise . It seized the opportunity by building an excellent expressway connecting the two cities . Now , after recovering their initial investment , it's all profit for them , and the cost of paying the toll for use of this private road is far less than the cost of the delay while using the government road .

[Ecthy]

Steinbrück

But they should privatise the Bundesstraßen (dual carriageways) too, so we get some competition.

[Colonâ„¢]

Originally posted by Sava
privatizing roads?

what kind of god-awful libertarian hell idea is that?

Private highways. Applied in that god-awful hotbed of neoliberalism, France.

Over here, the involvement of the private sector has been limited to a PPS project involving a tunnel beneath the Scheldt.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

These are considered toll roads in the us i believe. And they have been around for quite some time. SA is thinking of implementing toll roads. Mind you the idea isnt sitting real well with the majority of tax payers. We already have a certain amount of tax dollars going to pay for our roads. Texas spends more money on the roads then most states. The idea of having to pay to use the roads we already paid for is ridicolus.

[chequita guevara]

Tolls help keep traffic down and encourage people to use less conjesting and polluting forms of transportation.

[Snotty]

Each car here has to pay a yearly road tax of about $200. We very kindly allow you foreigners to drive around free of charge, but the taxman undoubtably gets his pound of flesh if you buy petrol here.

There a few tolls bridges around but mostly the really big river estuary bridges, like the Dartford bridge/tunnel at the thames estuary, and the Severn (?) bridge into Wales. There might be more oop norf but I dont know them.

Theres also the central London congestion charge, which covers only the very central area of London. I dont think you really need to drive through the zone unless you are doing something in the zone itself.

I thknk road tolls are a silly idea if you are getting road taxed and taxed on your petrol...Im also not especially keen on the idea of private enterprise for major roads. I cant justify the amount of countryside to be lost for a route that isnt going to have maximum use.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Tolls help keep traffic down and encourage people to use less conjesting and polluting forms of transportation.

Gasoline taxes do that better.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Tolls help keep traffic down and encourage people to use less conjesting and polluting forms of transportation.

I dont know bout that che, for one the roads they are charging for the buses dont even go on. I road the bus when in hawaii, that was almost a year ago the end of this dec begining jan, I am still realing from whiplash from riding the dam bus. I tried the bike route to work while there, second day I got hit by a car, that idea was out after i hit the pavement. I walked alot while i was there cause for one the buses got real crouded and i wasnt about to risk my life on the bike again. My thoughts are if they start the toll roads and bridges here they need not tax the crap out of us

[Ted Striker]

Certain kinds of shared public infrastructure make absolutley no sense whatsover to privitize.

This is because competition doesn't really exist in this case.

More privitization whoreing.

[Ecthy]

200 billion euros

[DanS]

By and large, the US does not have too many private toll roads. Rather, highways are funded through gasoline taxes.

Gasoline taxes seem to be the way to go, except that it's a crude tool to regulate traffic congestion.

[Spiffor]

Re: Private roadnet?

Originally posted by BeBro
How is it in your country?

Private Autoroutes have existed in France for a fairly long time. At the beginning, it was a way to improve our road network without the state paying too much.

The state had many shares in the Autoroute companies, which were effectively public/private. The fee was supposed to cover the initial investment, and to help creating new autoroutes.

The private companies couldn't do what they wanted. To build a new Autoroute, one had to follow a very strict code (about the materials used, the incliveness of the road etc). Similarily, the Autoroutes can be used by whoever can afford it, without discrimination. Finally, you could only build a new road if the state wanted to. It's not like you bought land and said "hey, I'll build a road here!" - the plan for the Autoroutes was steered by the State.

The system was made acceptable by the fact that we have many alternative public roads for those who don't want to pay the fee (much, much more than in Germany). Also, the most encumbered Autoroutes near the big cities remain entirely free. As such, people aren't held hostage by the Autoroutes companies. The implementation could be quite different in Germany.

As an aside: now that the older Autoroutes have been entirely paid for, the State has decided to privatize them entirely. We'll throw this goldmine away for a mere 10 billion €, whereas they could have brought 40 billion € to the state in the coming 20 years (Useless to say, the capitalists are very very happy with their investment)

[germanos]

Originally posted by Ecthy
200 billion euros

How fortunately.
Today I read that the Dutch (in pensionfunds, among others) hold almost 2 billion Euro's.

(That's European billions, not the wussy American ones.)


Lets buy the German roads and tax these ******'s to hell! Let them drive a bike! Ha!