Toll Roads Gone Amok, When Good Roads Turn Bad

Is there anything worse than political abuse of American citizens? How about when a public system is privatized to a corporation so that the people behind the politics can profit without breaking any laws?

Here is the scenario; Big Company One lobbies Political John to give them a stretch of local highways to revamp into toll roads. To sell the deal, Big Company One is willing to hand over a reasonable portion of profits from the toll road to the local city government, however, several stipulation will be enforced to ensure the toll road is profitable; limiting construction of new roads and highways and dropping speed limits of non-toll roads are options on the table. Political John is also assured that there may be a spot in the company for himself if he wanted to sit on the board of trustees.

The above scenario is somewhat heavy-handed, but not far from the truth of real current events. Large portions of public highways are being turned over to private foreign companies to collect tolls. Surrounding free roads and highways are forced to suffer due to the clauses in the business transactions. These foreign companies can actually penalize the local governments for promoting or constructing competitive alternatives to their toll roads. Even eminent domain clauses are given so that the companies can take citizen's property for current market price or, if the citizen chooses not to accept the deal, they can simply condemn the property and take the land for free; all in the name of expanding the toll road to relieve congestion.

This is not a fairy tale concoction made up to frighten people into civil disobedience; Virginia is currently experiencing the potential nightmare already. One has to ask, didn't these politicians get voted into office to safeguard the needs of citizens? More and more it seems that once voted in, they only work to safeguard their own needs and toll roads are just one more way for the current batch of crooked politicians to get some extra cash and influence. But is it really that bad? How about this; in a time when seeking ways to burn less oil is the foremost hot topic in current events and large cities are struggling to overcome traffic congestion, toll roads will actually increases fees if too many people make use of car pooling.

Having driven on several east coast toll roads, I have had the misfortune of traveling over some of the worst roads and bridges I have ever seen; yes, some toll roads are pristine and smooth, but far too many simply have not been given the attention that drivers have been paying for. Since these roads are owned by private corporations, it does no good to complain to local government and demand reconstruction efforts.

In the case of Transurban, much of their profit has gone to other realty projects that the company is invested in. As for other companies that neglect their toll roads? Who knows where the money has gone, it's none of your business; it's their money and they don't have to spend a single penny on your preferred highway route.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/24/2458.asp, controversy over Virginia toll roads

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/cguerra/stories/MYSA110607.01B.guerra.33d933b.html, some details on controversial practices in Texas toll road operations

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/main/toll-road-to-ruin-chapter-11/, a flamatory opinion about toll roads in Los Angeles

http://www.cashtrap.us/, a public watchdog group that is trying to educate people about the issues surrounding Texas toll roads

http://www.transurban.com.au/transurban_online/tu_nav_black.nsf/alltitle/north%20america-projects-Capital%20Beltway-overview?open, an overview of Transurban's projects in Virginia

http://www.stockmarketsblog.com/company_news_and_share_price.html, a peek at Transurban's current stock price