The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

64 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
to rapid transit facilities through the addition of electronic surveillance,
monitoring, and control. 25
How would metered freeways work? Explain Bish and Kirk:
A major problem with freeways is that as soon as more than
1,500 cars per hour per lane enter them, traffic becomes congested,
stopping and starting rather than maintaining a continuous
flow. The congestion causes the flow of traffic on the freeway
to fall well below 1,500 cars per hour per lane. Monitoring
freeway access forces cars to wait their turn on large on-ramps.
Once cars are permitted to enter the freeway, the traffic flow is
maintained at thirty-five to forty miles per hour, the speed that
provides the greatest flow of automobiles. Thus, part of the trip
is spent sitting still and the other part is spent moving at a
steady speed. Total trip time is reduced. 26
Although many economists propose electronic monitoring as
part of an overall plan that includes such other components as
express bus lanes, we shall consider the monitoring proposal on
its own merits. 27
In principle, there is very little wrong with this arrangement.
But we would be foolish indeed to think of putting its administration
into the hands of government. It calls for working with
sophisticated electronic equipment, which is subject, potentially,
to frequent breakdowns. One can scarcely trust an organization
that cannot collect the garbage, deliver the mail, or fill in the
25 John F. Kain, “A Re-appraisal of Metropolitan Transportation Planning,”
in Arthur Schreiber, Paul Gatons, and Richard Clemmer, eds., Economics
of Urban Problems: An Introduction (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971),
p. 163. See also Owen, The Accessible City, p. 31; Charles M. Noble, “Highway
Design and Construction Related to Traffic Operations and Safety,”
Traffic Quarterly (November 1971); and S.S. Morris, “Freeways and the
Urban Traffic Problem,” Traffic Quarterly 27 (October 1973): 523.
26 Bish and Kirk, Economic Principles and Urban Problems, p. 147.
27 The express bus lane idea is dealt with separately below.