The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

x The Privatization of Roads and Highways
road owners would have the incentive, and plenty of funds, to
buy property along highways so they could widen them. Owners
would also have incentives to improve interchanges, such as
Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta. Roads would improve overall. (I
interviewed a county road engineer years ago, and he told me
they design circular entrance ramps deliberately with varying
radii—experienced as odd changes in the curve, which force you
to constantly readjust the steering wheel—to “keep drivers
awake.” How many of us have trouble keeping focused for fifteen
seconds on a curving entrance ramp?)
Without having had forcible government the last two hundred
years, would the interstate system have come about? We
can’t know, but we shouldn’t care. Without an interstate system,
we would still have plenty of commerce; probably more than we
have now (when railroads were built—largely with the help of
government subsidies—much of the land between the coasts was
unclaimed, and thus open to use. Much would still be unclaimed
today without government.) We have what we have. Abolishing
government is the way to improve what we have.
And what about Cirrus et al. knowing your whereabouts?
This possible privacy problem is already being solved by the
market. First, most private roads likely would not even charge a
toll. Streets in business districts would be maintained by local
merchants, who would have incentive to keep the roads in good
order and to allow free access. Residential streets, for their part,
would not be so highly traveled that the residents would have an
incentive to charge tolls. Hence, there would be no road sensors
recording vehicles’ movements in business and residential areas.
Second, the market already has developed digital cash, similar
to a prepaid long-distance card. Just as you can now purchase
long-distance telephone minutes anonymously at convenience
stores, you would be able to purchase toll-road miles with cash,
and stick the magnetic miles card under a fender. Road owners
and transaction-management networks would never have to
know who you are. This technology is already in widespread use.
Only if you prefer to drive on credit, and be billed monthly by a