Bill, I think the issue is somewhat more complex than has been presented so far on the list. We have a number of issues here. 1.one is the doctrine that "user pays". This suggests that those who use the roads should pay the cost. 2.two is the doctrine of public goods. Infrastructure transportation facilities are public goods the marginal cost of which (for the individual user) approaches zero. It is only at the point of congestion that individuals contribute to the cost though the marginal cost remains very low or, more properly, is unapportionable to any individual. 3. the user pay principle is already incorporated into gas taxes. If there is a problem here, it is that the gas taxes are not high enough. That is a political problem but not, technically, an economic problem. Also, we know that commercial trucks which do the most damage to roads (and contribute the most to rising greenhouse gases) do not pay gas/diesel taxes commensurate to their user pay costs. This implies that part of the 'subsidy' of 'free roads' is to the consumer in that the full cost of road transport is not being applied to consumer (or producer) prices. Indeed, one of the hidden costs of 'free trade' has been a massive increase in road usage by commercial vehicles and a commensurate increase in global warming gasses. One article I read recently points to the fact that increased commercial traffic has accounted for the entire increase in global warming gases offsetting the decline in those produced by regular cars and even SUVs. 4. Given the political opposition to rising gas taxes to pay for roads, I have come to support road tolls but only for (public) expressways where local people and traffic have access to publicly funded alternative secondary highways. I.e. let the high speed, commercial traffic pay tolls (and significant tolls sufficient to pay both the capital cost and the maintenance cost) and give the rest the option of the expressways or more liesurely, and free, older slower highways/roadways.
This is the situation that is developing in Europe. My experience is in Slovenia where, because of their entry into Europe, Slovenians saw their highways being clogged and terrible accidents from increasing trans-European transport. They began a massive super-highway program, financed in part from borrowing from the EU, in part from tolls and imposts on gas taxes and insurance premiums. The tolls are significant and are aimed at 'free-rider' commercial and tourist traffic through Slovenia though they are also paid by locals who choose to use the freeways. Many do because time is held more precious than money :-P
I have written an article for a local "mature readers" newspaper arguing that we should adopt the Slovenian approach to rebuild the Trans-Canada Hi (death) way east of Revelstoke by building a divided superhighway complete with tunnels and viaducts and subject to significant tolls. (If anyone is interested I can send them the article, sans pictures of the incredible tunnels and massive viaducts) My argument is that most people will be willing to pay the tolls to buy the extra safety and the time and that these tolls will pay for the cost in the long run. Of course, none of this will work if the roads are built to make private profits. The one thing that economic history tells us is that private transportation infrastructure has never worked efficiently. But that is a lesson that we don't seem to have learned very well.
On another note, Bill, the problem with how you framed your original question is that you do not distinguish between the problem of who and why people use the road -- the worker going to his place of work or the young mother taking her children to the grandmother for a visit. Because of that, it is impossible to allocate costs and benefits. That is why such infrastructure costs are best allocated by taxes rather than by use. Not necessarily an easy task but not impossible. Why not just a business tax on road access, for instance?
Anyhow, for what it is worth,
Paul Paul Phillips, Senior Scholar, Department of Economics, University of Manitoba
