The Business Of Roads

Privatization is catching on with many state and local governments in the U.S., and Wall Street is expecting great riches from roads.

1 minute read

December 19, 2006, 9:00 AM PST

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera


"Across the nation, there is now talk of privatizing everything from the New York Thruway to the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey turnpikes, as well as of inviting the private sector to build and operate highways and bridges from Alabama to Alaska. More than 20 states have enacted legislation allowing public-private partnerships, or P3s, to run highways. Robert Poole, the founder of the libertarian Reason Foundation and a longtime privatization advocate, estimates that some $25 billion in public-private highway deals are in the works-a remarkable figure given that as of 1991, the total cost of the interstate highway system was estimated at $128.9 billion."

Monday, December 18, 2006 in Mother Jones

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