As a good libertarian, I recognize that our transportation and land use choices are not the verdict of a pure free market but are heavily influenced by a tangled web of regulations and subsidies. Having said that, I prefer a suburban house and car to a high-rise apartment and a transit pass.
How would the private automobile fair in the level playing field of a free market? A data point: In European countries where the deck is stacked against cars – older, dense cities with extensive public transit along with heavily taxed fuel – there are still plenty of private vehicles on the road. People place a high value on personal mobility.
Ideally, roads and rails would be built and maintained by the private sector, paid for by tolls and fares. But as long as the government is in the business of building highways, it should try to do a good job of building roads that go where people want to go. A new highway that lots of people use is a success story. On the other hand, there are many expensive public transit projects that suffer from low ridership. In my area the public busses run nearly empty, even at rush hour. So much for induced demand – you built it, and nobody came.
Well, the thing about free market entrepreneurism is that they think of things that nobody else thought of. If government had stayed OUT of transportation from the get-go, there's no telling what creative innovators would have come up with - something that satisfies personal mobility, moves lots of people swiftly and safely, doesn't require paving the continent, etc, etc. Granted, it's pretty hard now to change this world of government roads we live in. But puh-leaze, let's stop all this endless reconstruction!
I am conflicted on this topic.
As a good libertarian, I recognize that our transportation and land use choices are not the verdict of a pure free market but are heavily influenced by a tangled web of regulations and subsidies. Having said that, I prefer a suburban house and car to a high-rise apartment and a transit pass.
How would the private automobile fair in the level playing field of a free market? A data point: In European countries where the deck is stacked against cars – older, dense cities with extensive public transit along with heavily taxed fuel – there are still plenty of private vehicles on the road. People place a high value on personal mobility.
Ideally, roads and rails would be built and maintained by the private sector, paid for by tolls and fares. But as long as the government is in the business of building highways, it should try to do a good job of building roads that go where people want to go. A new highway that lots of people use is a success story. On the other hand, there are many expensive public transit projects that suffer from low ridership. In my area the public busses run nearly empty, even at rush hour. So much for induced demand – you built it, and nobody came.
Well, the thing about free market entrepreneurism is that they think of things that nobody else thought of. If government had stayed OUT of transportation from the get-go, there's no telling what creative innovators would have come up with - something that satisfies personal mobility, moves lots of people swiftly and safely, doesn't require paving the continent, etc, etc. Granted, it's pretty hard now to change this world of government roads we live in. But puh-leaze, let's stop all this endless reconstruction!