From Toll Road News: With a bid of $12.8 billion an Abertis/Citi team has been selected as the concessionaire in a 75 year lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The bids were received in a second round of best-&-final offer bids last Friday (May 16). #2 bidder was Transurban/Goldman Sachs at … [Read more...]
The Great Depression and America’s Addiction to Government Roads and Oil
One of my favorite new blogs, Rationalitate brought up a topic that I have spent much time thinking about, The Great Depression and Public Roads: In a time before the widespread adoption of income and sales taxes, property taxes made up the lion's share of local government revenues: two-thirds of … [Read more...]
How McCain or Obama Can Permanently Eliminate the Gas Tax, Cut Pork and Help the Environment
John McCain and Hillary Clinton have both supported the idea of a "Gas Tax Holiday". The whole idea of a Holy Day to celebrate the worship of socialized transportation catered by Santa Clinton/McCain seems pretty absurd to me. Nonetheless, they expect pandering to gas-addicted voters to pay off in … [Read more...]
Private Streets in Brooklyn?
This isn't some crazy proposal, they have been private since the 20's and 30's. It seems there are advantages and disadvantages. You don't have to worry about street parking when you own the street, but you have to hire your own contractor to make repairs. My main concern is that those homeowners … [Read more...]
Privatize Midway Airport
If Chicago's Midway Airport is privatized, I'll be looking forward to flying in there. (And it won't just be to satisfy cravings of Italian beef sandwiches and hot dogs at the food court.) It's success may depend on the how much (or hopefully how little) the city regulates the airport's contracts … [Read more...]
Colbert: Free Gas!
Watch it right here:And also, Kunstler on oil & suburbia: … [Read more...]
Should the Government Build the Cars or the Roads?
I tend to agree that there is some hypocrisy in the conservative/libertarian world when it comes to transportation, which is part of the reason I started this blog. A more free-market transporation system would certainly lead to a more urban land use pattern; something between pre-auto, … [Read more...]
McCain: Suspend the Gas Tax and Inflate the Deficit
I favor Bob Poole's solution: "The longer-term solution is to scrap the 20th-century tax-and-grant system in favor of universal tolling, managed by each state’s Department of Transportation and private toll companies."Furthermore, get the federal government out of the business of subsidizing … [Read more...]