The Ground Floor: Maybe the government should build the cars

"Is transportation like education, a communal service that works best through heavy general funding that pays off down the road in a community's overall prosperity, or is it best delivered by targeting users, especially road users through congestion pricing to reduce demand and increase revenues?"

This question, which was posed by Alex Marshall in the April issue of Governing, is further explored by Bob Dunphy in the Urban Land Institute's The Ground Floor blog.

Marshall had blasted conservative and libertarian think tanks for their insistance that public transit pay for itself, while turning a blind eye to the heavy government subsidies given to road building.

In Marshall's view, transportation works best when heavy general funding is used to create a system that adds to a community's or nation's overall prosperity.

Dunphy agrees in principle, though he says that some markets could be opened up to limited private investment.

"I say we get as much in direct and indirect charges from road and transit users as makes sense for the economy, society, and rational travel (and land use) choices, and fill in the rest with privatization, borrowing, and other people's money," he says.

Previous reading on BC:
Governing: King of the Road (4/21/08)