The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

252 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
As well, the state should keep its bloody hands off of the
future private road, street and highway industry. Government
police should be as scarce on traffic thoroughfares as they are
now on the inside of Disneyland. In the latter case, if you act
obstreperously, you are sooner, rather than later, surrounded by
a group of mice and ducks, all packing heat, who will lead you
away quietly from the scene of a confrontation. These private
police are far better able to satisfy the requirements of consumer
sovereignty than those in the public sector. After all, only the former,
not the latter, can go bankrupt, because they are part of a
market system. And the same holds true for bouncers in private
drinking establishments. As for the “rent-a-cops” who serve on
the Jerry Springer show, is there any doubt that they are far superior
to any public alternatives when it comes to breaking up a
fight at the exact point when the combatants are appropriately
half undressed?
Similarly, if the death rate is to be reduced to optimal levels
and traffic to be increased past horse-and-buggy levels, then road
entrepreneurs must be able to control all aspects of highway
travel, certainly including policing, pot-hole repair, street construction,
penalties, etc. 16 Under the present proposal could a
street owner impose the death penalty on those who drove green
automobiles? Not any more than he could charge whatever price
he wished.
CONCLUSIONS
It is now time to draw this discussion to a close. I have no
hard and fast conclusions as to the best way to privatize streets
and highways. It is perhaps more important that they be privatized
than how this task is accomplished. Once in the private
16 Optimal levels, of course, need not be zero. The latter might be
approached if the private owners imposed a five miles per hour speed limit,
and required all autos to be of Hummer quality or above (e.g., tanks), but it
is my entrepreneurial understanding that this set of rules would not maximize
profits.