Las Vegas Sun

WASHINGTON - Stuck in traffic? This will get your mind thinking about alternatives. The Washington Post today examines the U.S. Department of Transportation’s efforts to privatize the highways, starting with a pilot project to charge fees to drive during rush hour.

Congestion pricing has been a cause to celebrate among some transportation planners ever since London reduced its legendary gridlock by charging about $10 to drive into the city during rush hour.

Some DOT officials in Washington are true believers in this and other privatization methods, the story says.

In Nevada, a state loathe to raise gas taxes (or any taxes, for that matter), the elected officials are weighing options. But privatization opponents argue highways need to be open equally to all, as Rep. John L. Mica of Florida, ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was quoted in the Post: “This was a country based on some system of equality. People are paying their taxes and have representation. You can’t exclude them from having a fair return.”

The story continues:

“Critics such as Mica do not oppose all tolling, but they argue that the traditional mechanism for funding roads and transit, the federal gas tax, which has not been raised since 1993, must be increased so that the nation’s Highway Trust Fund does not run out of money in three years. Some Democrats contend that the Bush administration wants to starve the fund so that states will be forced to sell off roads to private firms, charge tolls and ration the best access to those willing to pay for a faster commute.”

With Nevada facing as much as a $6 billion shortfall in transportation needs, these debates are never far from the surface.

Politicians might take note of this paragraph in the story as they decide where they stand:

“Public distrust of privatization, however, remains high. Republicans lost control of the Indiana state legislature in 2006 partly because of controversy over the governor’s lease of a public highway to Macquarie. Political opposition has also forced governors in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to suspend plans to lease roads. Texas lawmakers put a two-year freeze on the governor’s strategy to privatize a 4,000-mile network of tolled highways.”

And so the debates continue, as does the traffic.