>Road owners can charge transport vehicles with cargo of above a certain weight category >Companies using the transport vehicles can choose which road to use >Companies will maintain quality of roads, monitor them with CCTV to help catch rulebreakers and relay some data to the police searching for criminals, and solve traffic jams >Also private superhighways for the rich >With the internet here, managing subscriptions and informing people about what road choices they can use will become all too easy
Now, perhaps countries with good roads already like the USA and Germany may not need this, but this will sure help developing countries like India who have trouble with basic infrastructure. A fact every economist can agree on is that literally all government services began with a privatised version.
Either it's a privacy nightmare, or if you only charge trucks, the smaller roads would go unmaintained.
Landon Jenkins
Normal roads are far more versatile than railroads for transportation
Sebastian Ortiz
>Now, perhaps countries with good roads already like the USA I'm American and proud of it, but our roads are shit. We built them fast and cheap, so now they need to be redone every 5 years.
But to answer your question, OP, these already exist. Look up toll roads/turnpikes.
Angel Perry
Think this happens in civil engineering already to a degree.
You'd probably want to build with the end game of the government taking control of it after a period of time, either with or without maintenance contracted to you're firm. Say 10 years, after 3/4 it'll have payed for itself, the remainder is profit and you can dump it before maintenance. That way you won't get a rival building parallel to yours.
I can see how it works and with some understanding of the construction industry. Perhaps someone else can elaborate?
Joseph Martin
>privacy nightmare In that case, scrap the camera idea and instead let there be a barcode / chip that is inside the truck or not readable by visible light that only needs to be installed by cargo vehicles. The private roads will have sensors for these barcodes to ensure it is trucks who use them, but in contrast, normal cars will not have them and therefore will not be trackable. If a truck removes the chip, and it is caught by occasional cameras (like once every 100km) then that company will be fined.
As for smaller roads being neglected- if they are unprofitable they will not be bought by anyone, so the government can maintain them.
Now, Veeky Forums is obsessed with privacy magnitudes more than the casual public is. Your phone could give away your location far more precisely than by-road cameras can.
>Delays getting to work and a chance conversation at the pub led a Somerset businessman to build his own £150,000 unofficial toll road. >Mike Watts created the shortcut after a section of A road near Bath was closed in February due to a landslip. But why? >"I could probably blame my wife. She was shouting at me and asking when something was going to get done," he said. >The usual eight-minute journey into the city - where he and his wife run businesses in the market - had started to take an hour due to a long diversion.
Connor Morales
the problem is that owning the road usually establishes a monopoly (as there's no alternatives)
So expect the condition of the road to worsen, while the tolls that are charged get higher and higher.
Goverments are held accountable by populist sentiment, while the rich are only held accountable by the law.
Unfortunately laws are much easier to change and warped through lobying, while populist sentiment tends to be inelastic on the its core demands.
Lincoln Roberts
Interesting! And even more interestingly, this one is meant to be for passenger cars only, and does not let trucks use the road at all. So I wonder what the reverse would look like- an industry backed road that is designed to fit the needs of trucks, but will let smaller cars use it freely.
Understood. I suppose it will mean that the government will have to sell very carefully to ensure there is no single monopoly, just like in the Progressive Period of America. Or, ensure there are at least 2 routes to each location and that they always belong to different companies. (All exchanges of roads will need to have gov't approval). And finally, they could start that off by changing the law to allow some company to build a new road parallel to an existing one, and then sell the existing one to a different company to make them compete.
Cooper Ortiz
>Far more versatile They can carry much less weight, much smaller loads, and are subject to a lot more congestion.
Railroads are the clear choice for the sophisticated man.
Colton Long
Which is why trucks exist eh
Jordan Lee
Lumber companies have private roads and they are shit - this is too far libertarian user!
Colton Sanders
>Good roads >USA
Are you srs? It might even be a good idea to privatise american roads so you can fix them.
Only problem is that roads (maybe not highways) are pretty much pure private goods since its expensive to make people pay and its non-rivalness. Maybe you could sell roads in the big cities and you could surely sell the highways but its more of a political descision bc its possible to do it.
Lucas Brown
A truck can carry like 30 tons trailer and load max.
A railcar can carry 135 tons before you even need to start getting into special considerations.
A train can easily carry 150 cars no problem. >20000+ tons >30 tons Geeze, I wonder who wins?
Brayden Taylor
I heard the average weight of an American makes about 5 potholes a month. Maintenance would be very expensive.
Christian Baker
I'm not arguing against the superiority of rails, I'm saying that the ree-roaming vehicles will always be used and therefore the market for them won't disappear.
I haven't been to America, but if there is a sore need for improved roads there then awesome! Otherwise, you could make a big business out of it in the 3rd world where governments do fuck all about local infrastructure.
Is that so? But those roads are really only meant for lumber. A general private road would appeal to every business that needs transportation.
Landon Flores
Roads have to be public because businesses in 21st century America do not invest but extract and extract and extract and move on leaving a corpse or disaster behind them.
Cooper Long
>Otherwise, you could make a big business out of it in the 3rd world where governments do fuck all about local infrastructure.
I know a guy that works for a concrete company in Kenya. The company got the land for free (the land with whatever materials you need for concrete). In return they had to maintain the dirt roads around the area and the highway (but they also own the highway and the the area around the highway (300m in each direction)) so they are pretty loaded.
Chase Myers
The US highway system was originally built to move the army around. Control of infrastructure is a security issue. Additionally if a private party controlled the roads they could control access to markets and extract monopoly rents.
Thomas Lewis
underrated >now get out
Joseph Gomez
roads?
Colton Moore
I see
In that case, when I am signing the multi-billion contract for my new road company I will give governmental vehicles the right to use the road at any time and to have ultimate control over them.
Brandon Russell
The US already has privatised toll roads. Here in Texas we have many. I believe they are run by a Spanish company.
Joseph Morris
How good is the road quality of those senpai?
Henry Ross
Most are brand new and tolls are collected electronically. Tolls are controlled by market demand. In rush hour prices go up. In between those hours, prices are reduced. many citizens complain that entry notices are vague when getting on the toll roads from a public road.
I use them from time to time and during rush times they are wonderful. In terms of cost, in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, it costs about $10US to cross that geographic area on one of the local toll roads.
Leo Edwards
bump, this board is great btw
Chase Nelson
I'd pay a monthly fee to have access to high speed private roads so I can cut my commute time in half
Jeremiah Collins
Privatized roads is comparable to privatized internet. Look at US's internet for an example of how well it'll work out.
Case in point, our ISP is literally the ONLY one available, so we need to pay $45 for 3 mbps. It only works when there's competition. What's to prevent a big company from buying all the roads or incentivize a small business to build new roads directly adjacent to older ones to compete?
Owen Carter
also, replace the word "road" with "internet" for every post in this thread and it still makes perfect sense
Joshua Collins
For (rail)roads there existed a thing called the Interstate Commerce Commission that was in charge of setting rates, approving mergers, and abandoning service. The ICC is gone, but now we have the Surface Transportation Board that does the same thing.
You'd need a strong regulatory agency to prevent abuses.
Elijah Reed
DFW's toll roads are of a far higher quality than the local roads around them. There's some sketchy local politics about what toll roads get approved where that kind of reeks of cronyism but it's hard to argue with the results. I drive on the toll roads somewhat frequently (once a week or so) when I know that certain public roads will be congested or simply too long (many toll roads are erected to connect places that didn't have highways connecting them before).
Payment is easy and fully automated. I don't actually think there are any toll booths with human beings left in the entire area. You get a sticker for your car and simply drive through without ever stopping (except at the airport because... reasons).
Pic related is the toll road system here. All the colored items are new. Older toll roads are simply marked. Keep in mind that some of these toll roads supplement public roads (traveling alongside them, usually with less on and off ramps) while others connect things that weren't really connected before.
How it generally works is that the cities approve a new toll road in exchange for the private companies also repairing or upgrading a public road at the same time, so really everybody wins. OP is just a faggot trying to troll without realizing that it actually does work.
Justin Kelly
The toll at the airport is bullshit.
In the past if you left through the same side you entered on within 45 minutes or so, it was free.
Now you are required to pay a toll no matter what. Total shit.
Wyatt Walker
Cool bro
Lucas Walker
Oh golly, you don't even know how insane the regulations and crapitalism is in that sector do you? All the countries and areas with great internet have private ISPs, so clearly the problem can not be isolated to the fact that the government isn't doing it.
Noah Reyes
Here in Canada there is only one privatized highway (sold to a Spanish concern for 100 years). I don't take it on principle.
Easton Clark
We're all from the 1st world, so it is hard to see a need for private roads. However, my friend from India has told me something that made me curious about the market opportunity for this. Something as fundamental as a bridge across a river doesn't get built because the local authorities constantly change their plans, usually to not give opposing parties credit for any completed infrastructure, and thus none gets built.
I believe countries like that will house tons of businesses that would love better roads, so I am curious as to how this can be helped by a capitalist.
Jordan Johnson
Most toll roads have state and/or federal statutes as to how they can operate. I'll use the Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA) as an example since I'm familiar with it.
They were created to construct parts I-70, I-335, and I-35 back in the 1950's. The intent was to finance a capital project quickly without having to go to the public to vote for GO bond. Which in a state that hates taxes and government spending would have been difficult to fund under a CIP, especially at a time when people did not understand the intent of a highway network.
It was intended to be something along a 5-10 year en devour to build all the segments, and once completed, the KTA would be dissolved and turned over to the state. Once the cost was repaid, the tolls were to be removed and it would then be maintained as any other state/interstate route.
It still exists today as a quasi-government operation. The state doesn't really want to pay for it since they'd have to remove the tolls and pay for it with taxes. The KTA is part of the government, but it's funding structure is separate.
This leads me to my reason as to why you cannot privatize roads (for the most part, there are some exceptions). Heavy use routes require a lot of maintenance, and it isn't cheap (look at how much the gov't already shorts road maintenance). In order to make a profit, tolls would have to grow considerably, in which case the calls from the public would be so loud that the local governments would either have to take over it, or restrict the toll rates eliminating a lot of profit potential for a lot of time & money investment. Maintaining infrastructure is a very resource-intensive business to do, especially one that gets the wear & tear of roads.
TL;DR - it would be a very difficult industry to turn a profit in, and there is a reason investor's aren't lining up to buy them.
Michael Phillips
Forgot...
Source: I'm a highway construction engineer, I deal with budgeting, funding, design, and construction of roads.
Cameron Hall
Railroads in the US are shit compared to Europe >railroads, railroads everywhere Get into the plane business, that's where intra-US transport is at.
Nicholas Hernandez
why not privatize the atmosphere while you're at it
>in b4 finance dukes of the united states invade developing countries because of carbon emissions
Jacob Lopez
>Railroads in the US are shit That's why we move much more freight, much farther, much faster than in Europe, right?
Jack Brooks
Your air and road infrastructure is great. Also, I probably thought about ways of transporting people. My bad. I know trains in the US aren't going as often FOR PEOPLE. Dunno about freight.
Sorry again.
Christopher Rodriguez
It's alright, bruv. It's a product of railroads in Europe being operated completely differently than in the US. Typically, the government owns the actual track in EU and companies pay a fee to run on it. There are also government operating companies that run passenger trains and it's operated almost as a public service.
Compared to the US where all the railroads are privately owned companies that own their own rail and equipment and are in competition with one another in all aspects.
It's a completely different game with completely different priorities.
Ayden Thompson
they already do it in mexico, actually you have to pay for those premium roads if you don't want to get killed or kidnapped while going from one state to another.
