John Stossel: Billions of Tax Dollars on Roads? That's 'Bull'

The government has announced it's going to spend billions of dollars on building new roads, and fixing old ones, but is the government right for the job?

(AP Photo/Getty Images)

Private Road-Builders Offer Solutions

Lipking says he "starts to sweat a little," his heart pumping as he tries to make the most of the time he spends in traffic. He's become proficient at flossing with one hand.

Josh lives only 16 miles from work but it often takes him an hour and a half to get to the office.

But what if his commute (and yours) didn't have to be this bad? What if someone wanted to add some lanes to this road, or build an entirely new road?

Private road builders are doing this kind of work across the world, such as the double-decker underground highway in Paris, complete with 350 cameras watching for traffic delays or accidents. Any incident is detected in less than 10 seconds. Once the camera detects a problem authorities rush to tow the obstacle away so traffic keeps moving.

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They do the same thing in California, too, on at least one road: Highway 91. Instead of building a brand-new road, they added two lanes in the middle of an existing highway. Drivers can choose to use them, or not.

If you want to go this fast, you have to pay. Different amounts depending on the time of day. Sometimes $1.50, sometimes $9. But by paying you save time. Traffic moves. And for some people, time is money.

Were these traffic speeding innovations created by government road-builders? No. They were created and paid for by private road-builders.

Their success has made politicians from other states want to try leasing roads. Mayor Richard Daley did that with the Chicago Skyway. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels leased the Indiana toll road to a private company. He got back billions for his taxpayers.

"We received $4 billion, free and clear, no taxes, no debt left to our kids," Daniels said during our interview in January about the lease agreement signed in 2006.

It sounds like a good idea to me. But most people can't even imagine the idea of leasing out one of their roads to a private company.