Los Angeles (November 15, 2005) – With traffic congestion mounting across the country, costing society billions of dollars in wasted time and resources, the Reason Foundation praised the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Association’s new call for government officials to examine toll roads as an option in every future road project.
“City and state governments mistakenly claim we don’t have the money required to solve our congestion problems,” said Robert Poole, who has advised the last four presidential administrations on transportation issues and serves as director of transportation at Reason Foundation. “If we’d just get out of the stone age, we’d see that there is no shortage of funds for highway expansion and modernization. The global capital markets are putting billions of dollars into new toll road projects in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. Companies are ready to bear the costs of building massive transportation projects here in the US. Tolls for new roadway capacity are not double taxation – with tolls, only those who use a roadway pay for it. That means out of state cars and trucks pay their fair share, even if they don’t buy fuel in-state. And funds generated in one metro area stay in that metro area, rather than being siphoned off for projects elsewhere. If government officials are searching for solutions to our traffic woes, they should be considering toll roads.”
Reason’s Transportation Research
Reason’s transportation research and commentary, including recent studies on virtual exclusive busways, truck-only toll lanes, states selling or leasing their toll lanes and bridges, and public-private partnerships in California can be found online at https://reason.org/transportation/index.shtml.
About Reason
Reason Foundation is a nonprofit think tank dedicated to advancing free minds and free markets. Reason produces respected public policy research on a variety of issues and publishes the critically acclaimed monthly magazine, Reason. To learn more about Reason, please visit www.reason.org.
Contacts
Robert Poole, Director of Transportation, Reason Foundation, (310) 292-2386
Chris Mitchell, Media Relations, Reason Foundation, (310) 367-6109