The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

408 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
WALTER BLOCK: Zoning authorities; bureaucrats in charge of
land use; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Department
of Transportation; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
QUESTION: How would the private ownership of roads affect
metropolitan commuters? Would the costs to use streets go up?
Would congestion problems decrease, remain the same, or diminish?
WALTER BLOCK: Road privatization would help everyone,
except for bureaucrats, politicians, “civil servants” employed by
present statist road managers, etc. I claim that the cost of street
use would decrease. See the “rule of two” mentioned above. Congestion
problems would decrease, as peak-load pricing (charging
more during rush hours than at 3 a.m., which irons out the variations
in demand during the day) would become the order of the
day. Right now, the government engages in anti-peak-load pricing,
which exacerbates the problem. They commonly sell
monthly tickets to bridges, tunnels, etc. at a cheaper price per trip
than otherwise. But who uses such tickets? Employees, not casual
shoppers, visitors. And when do they use these tickets? Precisely
during rush hours.
Nor is this any accident. The principle holds true (congestion
is a government failure) in many other cases too. Compare congestion
during Christmas with the post office and private firms.
The former tell you not to mail during the peak-load times; the
latter roll up their sleeves, put on extra workers, and satisfy consumers.
QUESTION: How can you reconcile burrowing under someone’s
property with such issues as mineral rights? At what point
above and below do property rights stop?
WALTER BLOCK: There are two theories on this. The first, the
erroneous one, is called the ad coelum doctrine. Here, if you own
an acre of land on the surface of the planet, you own territory
right down to the center of the earth, in narrowing circles; e.g.,
your property comes to a point there (along with everyone
else’s). In effect, you own a cone (think ice cream cone) of land,