News Release

Drew Carey and Reason.tv Set Out to Reduce Traffic Congestion

Carey says he'd love to own a toll road and gives one lucky commuter a helicopter ride to work

Los Angeles (October 15, 2007) – How does driving on the “Drew Carey Freeway” sound?

Drew Carey, host of the hit shows The Price Is Right and Power of 10, says he’d love to help alleviate traffic jams by owning, building and operating toll roads in America’s most congested areas.

In a new Reason.tv video, Gridlock, Carey, who’s used to handing out prizes on his game shows, gives one lucky commuter a ride to work he’ll never forget. Carey hires a helicopter to transport Josh Lipking to and from work. Josh’s short 16-mile commute is actually one of the worst in Los Angeles. In free-flowing traffic conditions, Josh could get to work in just 25 minutes. Unfortunately, traffic is never free-flowing in Los Angeles. Instead, Josh spends 90 minutes – each way – stuck in traffic. That’s three hours a day, lost.

Los Angeles doesn’t have a monopoly on traffic jams though; congestion is a growing problem just about everywhere. But that doesn’t mean we have to accept it. Carey details how cities around the world are using high-tech solutions to build tunnels, elevated highways and bridges that reduce bottlenecks.

Who’s going to pay for these innovative new roads? Carey doesn’t want taxpayers stuck with the bill, so he explores how the government can get the private sector to ante up.

“I’d love to own a freeway in Los Angeles,” Carey says.

“Our bridges are falling down. Our roads are crumbling and over-crowded. The government has failed to build and fix the basic infrastructure we need,” says Adrian Moore, vice president of research at Reason Foundation. “Drew demonstrates how innovative toll road approaches are working in places like Orange County and proves we don’t have to accept gridlock.”

Gridlock is the first in a series of Reason.tv videos hosted by Drew Carey. Future documentaries will examine the government’s abuse of eminent domain, the immigration debate and medical marijuana laws.

Full Video Online

Gridlock, hosted by Drew Carey, is available online at http://reason.tv/video/show/6.html.

About Reason.tv

Reason.tv is an online community showcasing the best free market ideas and videos on the Internet. Reason.tv gives you the opportunity to create videos, share videos and suggest topics for Drew Carey’s upcoming documentaries. For more information, please visit www.reason.tv.

About Reason Foundation

Reason Foundation is a nonprofit think tank dedicated to advancing free minds and free markets. Reason Foundation produces respected public policy research on a variety of issues and publishes the critically acclaimed monthly magazine, Reason, and its website www.reason.com. For more information, please visit www.reason.org.

Contact

Chris Mitchell, Director of Communications, Reason Foundation, (310) 367-6109