Charging a fee for using roads

[fallout]

Originally Posted by Griffin 3

Please note that earlier in the thread, we made a distinction between highways and local roads.

I didn't.

I guess gas taxes in America are lower than I thought.

[Actuary321]

Originally Posted by Griffin 3

Please note that earlier in the thread, we made a distinction between highways and local roads.

Sorry, I missed that.
You are correct that highways are fully funded and more by the user fees. But if it weren't for both the user fees and local taxes, you would not have a road in front of your house to get to the highway.

[fallout]

I am clearly backing away from my original statement, but when you add in other costs of driving such as sales tax on purchase of the vehicle and repair work etc... This will cover the roads.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Google Monkey

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/ava...ted/Thesis.pdf.

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/may98/finance.htm

You're welcome!

I'd like to see a more longitudinal study as opposed to one year, as highway expenditures tend to come in clumps, while the tax revenues are somewhat steady. As we've seen, pick a year (1995 or 1997) and the result is different. I guess it all depends on what argument one is trying to make.

[Incredible Hulctuary]

Nobody would benefit from private roads except the road owners and a few wealthy commuters who wouldn't care if the toll was $20/mile.

You'll be forced to choose between taking a longer inconvenient route or paying the jacked-up toll rates for the most direct route. And competition will make them install odd blockages and detours to make it difficult for you to get to the competition's roads.

Even if you as an individual decide not to drive, you'll still pay for the roads in the form of increased prices for the goods and services you use, because the producers would still use the roads. It's nuts to think that you'd pay less for private roads than what you pay for the roads in taxes and related fees.

[Griffin 3]

Originally Posted by Incredible Hulctuary

It's nuts to think that you'd pay less for private roads than what you pay for the roads in taxes and related fees.

Wow, we happen to have picked the cheapest way to pay for roads. What a stoke of luck that was!

[Griffin 3]

Originally Posted by Actuary321

But if it weren't for both the user fees and local taxes, you would not have a road in front of your house to get to the highway.

No, I can build a road out to the highway, so that wouldn't be much of a problem.

[Utanapishtim]

Originally Posted by llcooljabe

This happened in Toronto. Highway 407 was built as a toll road with mileage determining your toll. The Ontario goverment sold it to some private company for a huge amount. That private company jacks up the rates every year, so much so that the cost for driving on this road outweighs the benefit (in terms of time saved (if any), since the other main east west artery, 401, is quite busy).

I thought of this today, too. It seems like the traditional method of charging for road use is toll roads -- and this one is actually an interesting case study. Initially, with a fairly low toll rate, the road was quite busy. I know that by increasing the tolls, they have driven away some drivers -- perhaps enough that it does not get very congested any longer, but I don't know about that. If that is the case, then that actually increases its value to drivers who are in a hurry, although it undermines the government's intention in building it, to relieve pressure on the 401.
So, under the traditional toll-road approach, roads with higher demand on them can support higher tolls. A higher-tech approach would only be needed because of the overhead cost in money and time of making everyone pay in exact change or at a manned booth. However, I understand that the transponders which are used on a subscription basis for some toll roads can be less than exactly accurate, in practice.

Another interesting way of charging for road usage, which again impacts the long-distance commuters and commercial trucks, is to simply charge for entrance into the city, along any road. This could actually be combined with toll highways to provide funding for both inner city roads and the major conduits between cities. This would greatly reduce the number of roads dependent on tax revenues, and could apparently be used to give a corresponding reduction in the gas tax, from the data put forth in this thread.