The recent flood of news about privatizing roads and other traditional public facilities, driven in part by a backlash against lack of highway funding highlighted by the Minneapolis bridge collapse, got us thinking recently.
Osceola Parkway is already a toll road (at least west of Dyer). Arguably, it's an underused resource that has not performed to the level expected when it was built. What would happen if Osceola County signed a 99-year lease with a private investment firm to maintain and operate Osceola Parkway? Much the same deal as has been done with other toll roads, like the Chicago Skyway. Revenues from the lease deal could then be used for other badly-needed infrastructure projects within the county.
Of course, the private operator would undoubtedly want to make moves to increase traffic use along the road. This may include tweaking the toll schedule, perhaps with different pricing for peak and off-peak periods. But we also note that the parkway has a fair amount of right-of-way, and it intersects with the commuter rail line, with a commuter rail stop already planned for Osceola Parkway. Could a private operator implement an east-west mass transit system in conjunction with the north/south commuter rail? Perhaps a combination of bus rapid transit and light rail running from BVL all the way west to the attractions?
Food for thought.
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9 comments:
Basically the whole part about the private (foreign) investers taking over our roads, or other transportation responsibilites is just stupid. The only reason this would have to happen is that the local governing bodies are so screwed up that they can not do their most basic of jobs. If governments would stop spending money where it should not be spent and the traffic issues would not be a problem
I am supprised to here such an un-American point of view from the Wayne Who site. This whole idea sounds like something that I would read in the Sentinel if I still read that paper. Wayne Who has been a great supporter of good government, and this seems very off topic? Has the stupidity of government finally gotten to you?
I am more worried about foreign countries making our infrastructure even worse. We can not even trust the Chinese to make safe toys, or trust their American partners to verify they are safe. I think all of this sounds like a bad thing for us.
I know that the county commission was looking into this possibility for a toll road in south Osceola, and I have to say I agree with the other posts. I hope they do not sell us out. It is bad enough that developers control everything in our community, but to actually sell off county (taxpayer) property to companies out side of the US does not make sense.
If government can not do its most basic of jobs, then why do we even have it? Transportation, defense, and don't over regulate the private market. Pretty simple stuff.
Based on the comments above, I searched the Sentinel's site, and sure enough, there is an article from July 22 talking about extending SR 417 and how there is no money to do it (and of course the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority doesn't want to fund any roads outside Orange County). But they also talk about Avatar already having approval to put a 4-mile toll road in a 10-mile stretch extending Marigold Ave to 17-92, and that they expect that Avatar will sell that road to a private investor after they build it. The only difference there is that Avatar will get to decide who runs the road, not local government.
Speaking of foreign investors, who do you suppose purchases the bonds local governments issue to fund infrastructure projects? Must only be American companies, right? And it must get really confusing driving those Hondas, Toyotas, and Mitsubishis that are made here in the US, while most of those Ford Crown Victorias the police drive are made in a Ford plant in Canada. Meanwhile, you think an investment company from Spain or Australia is going to ship over their own workers to maintain a toll bridge they bought? Nope, I'm guessing they're going to offer construction jobs to the locals.
This would be the best thing to do. Private enterprise can always deliver services cheaper and more effective than government. All toll roads should be privately owned.
Private enterprise can not run a toll road better than government. There is not once place in the country where this has proven to be true. As a matter of fact in most places, governments (taxpayers) are having to subsidise the companies that have taken over the projects to keep the tolls at a reasonable level.
We also have to ask ourselves why are we stuck tool roads as our only option? There are times when a toll road makes sense because more people are using it that do not live in the area where it has been built for example. But in most cases toll roads should not be built. People pay taxes,impact fees, and gas taxes to build these roads, why should they have to pay again just to ride on the road?
You make my point. You say that taxpayers are having to subsidize the companies that have taken over the projects to keep the tolls at a reasonable level. Tolls should be set at market rate. If tolls cannot be set at a market rate, then the road should never have been built in the first place. Osceola Parkway is a good example.
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