Been thinking about this because I blew twitter up two weeks ago calling plans to rebuild the Brent Spence Bridge a boondoggle. Its amazing to how upset everyone gets over this bridge, instead of asking more hard questions, everyone wants to fast track the project and ask less questions, or none if possible.
In a time when the DOT gets 330 billion a year from the government but the gas sales tax generates only 230 billion a year how long can fiscal conservatives justify spending money they don't have?
Did you hear any of John Boehner's remarks at Economic Club of Washington in response to President Obama’s American Jobs Act?
Interesting highlights,
- The president's proposals are a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies...
- They've[private sector] been hurt by a government that offers short-term gimmicks rather than fundamental reforms
- the current tax code, ...discourages investment and rewards special interests
- They've[private sector] been antagonized by a government that favors bureaucrats over market-based solutions
Between Boehner and Kasich going on about running government more like a business I had this thought.
Consider, there is no STRUCTURAL reason to replace the BSB. It is structurally stable. The main reason for replacement that I have heard is that it is "FUNCTIONALLY OBSOLETE".
I can't think of a business that gives anything away for free so it only makes sense that the issue of the bridge exceeding capacity is a excellent business opportunity and I have the perfect solution, a toll with congestion pricing.
This is how it will work, $1 a vehicle until the functional limit of 85,000 cars draws close, then the toll will start increasing to encourage people to take one of the other 5 bridges in the area. Once 85,000 vehicles have crossed the bridge the toll will go to $10 a vehicle, this will accomplish two things, local traffic, the traffic that makes up over 80% of the traffic on the bridge will find more convenient ways across the river and the traffic that everyone claims "crucial" to US transportation will sail across smoothly.
We’d actually be making the truckers money, think about it, instead of sitting in traffic for hours, they sail right through, that $10 will allow them to spend an hour driving 55 mph instead of sitting in traffic which instead of $17 in lost revenue, will generate a $7 gain.
UPDATE(this isn't revenue, I was thinking the truckers hourly rate, if that's even how they get paid which it probably isn't. I think they get paid by mile so even more important they move as quickly as possible.)
In addition to freight haulers this would also save the government 3 billion dollars and provide an easy half million+ a day in revenue.
Isn't that business like?
-- doesn’t get more market based than that.
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