The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

172 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
of the U.S. We are accustomed to regarding long, thin entities
such as highways as impossible to privatize. But railroads, which
are equally “long and thin” have for many decades been built,
owned and managed by profit-making firms. 6 Access need not be
limited by use of antiquated-coin tollbooths. 7 The universal
product codes, which keep track of groceries, could easily by
applied to automobiles; even our “horse and buggy” highway
authorities are now—at long last—in the process of introducing
such automation. 8 Nor need we fear that a private street owner
would not allow automobile access, or would charge unreasonably
high “monopoly” prices; our experience with the typical forprofit
railway line is that it
tried its best to induce immigration and economic development
in its area in order to increase its profits, land values and value
of its capital; and each hastened to do so, lest people and markets
leave their areas and move to the ports, cities, and lands
served by competing railroads. The same principle would be at
work if all streets and roads were private as well. 9
6In the rest of the world outside the U.S., where railroads have traditionally
been under the provision of the government, people have an equally
difficult time imagining how such services could be provided privately.
They are perhaps not aware of U.S. experience where not only inter-city
lines have operated on a profit basis, but that this applies to intra-city rail
as well. For example, in New York City, the Interborough Rapid Transit
(IRT) and Borough of Manhattan Transit (BMT) lines (but not IND) were
originally owner-operated.
7These are pictured, by opponents of road privatization, as being located
in front of each house on every street, thus bringing traffic to even more of
a standstill than operates at present.
8For more on this, see James C. Nelson, “The Pricing of Highway, Waterway
and Airway Facilities,” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings
(May 1962); William Vickrey, “Review of Herbert Mohring,” Transportation
Economics (1982); A.A. Walters, “The Theory and Measurement of
Private and Social Costs of Highway Congestion,” Econometrica (October
1961).
9Murray N. Rothbard, Reconstruction of Utility and Welfare Economics
(New York: Center for Libertarian Studies, 1978), p. 204.