You know the economy’s in great shape when our elected leaders start handing over our highways, airports, bridges and tunnels over to the highest bidder.
That might be a bit simplistic, but on some level it’s accurate. States and cities, struggling with gargantuan budget deficits, are increasingly selling or leasing vital transportation infrastructure to private companies. Yes, it helps fill state coffers, but it’s a scary development nonetheless.
One of the biggest proposed deals is a plan to lease the 537-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike, the nation’s oldest major toll road, to a private investment group that includes Citigroup and the Spanish firm Abertis. The legislature votes on the deal next month; if it goes through, Abertis will pay $12.8 billion to run the turnpike for 75 years. That’s a big chunk of change.
If last year’s bridge collapse in Minneapolis made one thing clear, it’s our infrastructure is a mess. The American Society of Civil Engineers says it will cost $1.6 trillion to get things shipshape again. With many states grappling with growing budget deficits, no one expects to see the problem tackled anytime soon. Turning over our infrastructure to the free markets may be the best way to save it, and the Department of Transportation under President Bush has made no secret of its interest in doing just that.
With that in mind, leasing sounds like a great idea. States get a nice infusion of cash and wash their hands of pesky repairs and rebuilding, while the private sector steps in to do what it does best — make money. It’s a big win-win.
But plenty of people don’t see it that way. Labor unions worry private ownership of public infrastructure puts their contracts at risk, and a large percentage of people think anything built with their tax dollars should stay in public hands. It doesn’t help that a lot of the companies striking these lucrative deals are foreign. The Dubai Ports fiasco showed how well that goes over with the public.
The Penn Turnpike deal has garnered a lo t of headlines, but it’s one of many such deals. In 2005, a consortium of companies including Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Spain’s Cintra paid $1.8 billion to operate the Chicago Skyway bridge, and Abertis took over the Orlando airport a year later. Like it or not, these deals have delivered results. The Skyway has fewer potholes, high-speed electronic toll collection and reversible lanes to improve traffic flow. Abertis has invested $70 million in the Orlando airport.
Our country’s infrastructure is crumbling, and with each passing year it gets worse. I don’t really want a private corporation in charge of the tunnel I drive through every day, but I don’t want that tunnel to collapse on my head, either.
Photo: HelveticaFanatic/Flickr
