The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Transition to Private Roads 281
present state of government ownership of such transportation
arteries to one of complete privatization? We shall answer this
question in two stages: the first, very briefly, since there is a large
extant literature on this subject and the second, much more intensively,
since there is not. The first stage of our analysis, then, is
addressed to the issue of what is the appropriate transition
process for privatizing any resource? The second seeks to answer
the question of how can this be applied to the special challenges
which arise with regard to road privatization?
PRIVATIZATION IN GENERAL
There are several methods that can be utilized regarding any
governmental holding, such as a factory or forest. The worst one,
always, from the libertarian point of view, is to sell the resource
to any willing buyer. This is because a sale implies that the state
will receive money in return for “its” property. But the government
has no wealth at all but that which was seized from individual
owners in the first place. It may “own” the resources in
The Freeman (March 1985); idem, “Intraurban Road Privatization,” Transportation
Research Record (1987): 1107; idem, “Using Competition to Break
the U.S. Road Monopoly,” Heritage Foundation (December 14, 1987); idem,
“Privatization: Saving While Serving the Public,” Goldwater Institute
(April 25, 1988); idem, “Taking Over the Roads,” Liberty (November 1988);
idem, “Why We Need Highway Privatization,” Laissez Faire Institute
(March 1991); idem, “Private Highways? They’re Cheaper, Better, Fairer,”
Phoenix Gazette, 3 April, 1991; idem, “The Rationale for Toll Roads: You Get
What You Pay For,” Phoenix Gazette, 16 December 1992; idem, “Highway
Privatization: What Are the Benefits for Arizona?,” Goldwater Institute
(December 1992); idem, “From Highways to Buy-Ways,” Spectrum (Fall
1993); idem, “Highway Investment Analysis,” Arizona Department of
Transportation (December 1994); idem, “Privatize Driver’s License, Registration
System,” Tribune, 25 December, 1994; idem, “Privatizing Vehicle
Registrations, Driver’s Licenses and Auto Insurance,” Transportation Quarterly
(Fall, 1995); idem, “Selling the Roads: Privatizing Transportation Systems,”
Liberty; idem, “Goodbye, DMV,” Liberty (January 1996); idem, “Selling
the Roads: Privatizing Transportation Systems,” Liberty (1996).