Socialized Highway System

Posted by tomo at 11:10 AM in urban .

The Interstate legislation, as enacted in 1956, put a stop to new toll-road construction, and we instead proceeded with a socialized transportation system, available to the consumer at no charge, mostly paid for from general revenue. Toll-road construction ceased, and with the exception of a handful of projects, all new highways built since have been freeways.

Our freeway system encourages long distance driving. Our auto insurance system encourages, or at least fails to discourage, excessive driving. And our undertaxed gas prices do the same. And people complain about the cost of registering vehicles annually. But owning a car and driving it too much are two different things and we can make the cost of other aspects of driving more in-line with reality without making it more expensive to own two cars that sit in the garage most of the year.