Dec 15 2008
Editorial by Robert Poole Exposes Egregious Government Infrastructure Mismanagement
Following our extensive discussion regarding the merits and possible effects of road privatization, Mr. Merlin Jetton referred me to the following excellent article by Robert Poole, entitled, “Stimulus Shouldn’t Be an Excuse for Pork.” This article highlights the wastefulness and misdirected priorities of government when it comes to infrastructure projects and gives plenty of empirical evidence for precisely why the government should not be involved in infrastructure management. Mr. Poole reports that the mayors of cities throughout the United States have requested a “stimulus” package of over $73 billion; Mr. Poole then proceeds to list numerous superfluous and misguided expenditures to which this money would be devoted – at the expense of vital infrastructure maintenance.
According to Mr. Poole, here is how government management of roads and bridges has failed us – miserably:
Poor Maintenance on Roads and Bridges: “We have a backlog of deferred maintenance on both highways and bridges. According to Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report, 24% of U.S. bridges were reported structurally deficient or functionally obsolete in 2006. At the current rate of repair it will take 62 years for those bridges to be brought up to date.”
Overemphasis on “Public Transit” Projects: “Consider how the Los Angeles area is spending its transportation money. A 2006 study by University of North Carolina at Charlotte Prof. David Hartgen found that in Los Angeles less than 5% of the area’s workers use public transit to commute, yet over 50% (nearly $67 billion) of the area’s long-range plan (to the year 2030) money will be spent on transit projects. Planners admit the cash going towards those transit projects won’t significantly increase transit’s share of commuters, which means over half the spending won’t do anything to reduce the region’s infamous traffic jams, which drain the economy and hurt businesses.”
Politicians’ Tendency to Favor Glamor Over Substance: “Too often [politicians] choose ribbon-cutting ceremonies at sports complexes over repairing bridges.”
What is particularly frustrating about government (mis)management of roads and bridges is that many experts on the subject agree that glaring problems – such as urban traffic congestion – can be resolved with much less money than the mayors are asking for. According to Poole, “Hartgen’s study showed we could eliminate severe congestion in all of the nation’s urban areas for $21 billion a year — less than we are spending on transportation today, and $52 billion less than the mayors just asked for. And by investing in the right projects we’d save 7.7 billion hours each year.” Surely, if roads were privatized, we would get at least this benefit of elimination of severe traffic congestion. This alone would be a massive improvement over the current system and would alone be worth the privatization effort. Traffic congestion wastes our precious lives. Moreover, it puts those lives at risk. It is imperative to end it, not just from considerations of economic efficiency, but from considerations of the moral value, dignity, and safety of every individual.
Moreover, I am glad to see Mr. Poole recommending a possibility that I, in my discussion with Mr. Jetton, argued is likely to happen under private roads. Mr. Poole writes that “[t]oday, over 80% of all goods (by value) in this country are shipped by truck. Time is money. A national network of truck-only toll lanes would enable truckers to carry more goods, faster.”
Finally, for those who would argue that there is not enough private capital to fund the kinds of improvements Mr. Poole discusses, the numbers speak to the contrary: “Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters says there is over $400 billion in private capital available for high-priority U.S. infrastructure projects. That sum, if properly spent on the most-needed transportation projects, would transform our roads, transit systems and airports into a 21st century transportation network that would unleash the economy.”
Mr. Poole’s article reinforces much of what I said in my discussion with Mr. Jetton – namely:
(1) that government mismanagement of the roads today is severe and devastating in many respects;
(2) that private enterprise would do a far superior job, even with existing technical knowledge;
(3) that most problems that are ubiquitously associated with roads today would disappear after privatization.
I am also wondering whether this article has had an impact on Mr. Jetton’s thinking on the subject as well. If so, I would be interested to learn what that impact might have been.
Sincerely,
Gennady Stolyarov II
