Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Tolls

4 Ways Trump’s Transportation Plan Is Ripe for Corruption

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 28, 2016 | 6 Comments

As long as Trump doesn't release his tax returns, divest from his assets, and put his wealth in a true blind trust, the public can have no confidence that federal infrastructure spending will be based on merit and not Trump's personal financial interests.

Private Toll Road Backed By $430 Million in Federal Funds Goes Bust

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 18, 2016 | 18 Comments

From the beginning, there were plenty of reasons to suspect that Texas 130 — a private toll road between San Antonio and Austin — was a bad idea. For one thing, the state of Texas looked into extending the highway in 2006 and concluded it wouldn’t generate nearly enough toll revenue to pay for construction. Nevertheless, when two […]

Huh? After Bailing Out Toll Road, Florida Wants to Expand It

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 18, 2016 | No Comments

By any reasonable measure, the Suncoast Parkway in the Tampa Bay Area has been a complete failure. When it was first proposed, in 1992, consultants predicted the $507 million, 42-mile toll road from Hillsborough to Hernando County would fill up with cars — thanks to the sprawl everyone was sure would follow it. Consultants originally forecast $150 million in […]

The Great Traffic Projection Swindle

By Angie Schmitt and Payton Chung | Nov 20, 2014 | 22 Comments

This is the final piece in a three-part series about privately-financed roads. In the first two parts of this series, we looked at the Indiana Toll Road as an example of the growth in privately financed highways, and how financial firms can turn these assets into profits, even if the road itself is a big money loser. […]

How Macquarie Makes Money By Losing Money on Toll Roads

By Angie Schmitt and Payton Chung | Nov 19, 2014 | 47 Comments

This is the second post in a three-part series about privately financed highways. Part one introduced the Indiana Toll Road privatization as an example of shoddily structured infrastructure deals. Part three looks at how faulty traffic projections lead bad projects to get built, and how the public ends up paying for those mistakes. Macquarie Group, the gigantic Australian […]

The Indiana Toll Road and the Dark Side of Privately Financed Highways

By Angie Schmitt and Payton Chung | Nov 18, 2014 | 21 Comments

This is the first post in a three-part series on the Indiana Toll Road and the use of private finance to build and maintain highways. Part two takes a closer look at how Australian firm Macquarie manages its infrastructure assets. Part three examines the incentives for consultants to exaggerate traffic projections, making terrible boondoggles look like financial […]

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