The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

86 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
Under a price system, there is reason to believe that special
bus lanes would ensue. 58 Jumbo jet airlines serve so many people
that they are able to bid scarce airline runway space away from
those who use private and corporate jets, even though the latter
are presumably much richer on an individual basis. The same
phenomenon is likely to be repeated on our nation’s roads.
Although there will be some limousines, taxicabs, jitneys, and the
odd Maserati or two which will be able to bid for privileged lane
space on an equal (or favorable) basis with the much more
crowded bus, there is little doubt that the mass transportation
buses will be able to dominate special lanes. Nor is there much
question that the private road owner will find it in his interest (as
governmental road managers have not, for the most part) to institute
special lanes, perhaps in conjunction with electronic monitoring
devices, which will allow higher peak hour speeds, albeit
at a higher road price. If he does not, and there is an untapped
demand for this service, his competitors will take advantage of
this gap. The recalcitrant road owner will, in any case, earn less
money than otherwise; for this reason alone we can expect a tendency
toward express lane provision.
The economic efficiency of a finely tuned, price-oriented
express lane system will be formidable. True, a fiat system might
be able to make allowances for emergency vehicles such as firefighting
apparatus and ambulances. But it is not easy to distinguish
finely between the emergency trips of such conveyances,
when it is of the utmost importance that they be sped along, and
other journeys, such as the return to base. Nor will the fiat system
be able to distinguish between a full and an empty bus. Nor
between a full bus where higher price tickets are sold and a faster
trip is promised, and one in which slower, cheaper service is
promised to an equally packed bus.
58 See Roth, Paying for Roads, p. 89; “The Changing Challenge,” General
Motors Quarterly (1974): 28; William Vickrey, “Pricing and Resource Allocation
in Transportation and Public Utilities,” American Economic Review (May
1963): 461.