Perry, Bought up NYC (and Lincoln tunnel) specifically because I've spent multiple years in Newark, NJ. That's one way to be familiar with the crowd going *to* NYC during rush hour!!
--- About the private companies ... India is currently in the midst of a PPV (Public-Private-Partnership) boom right now. Basically, many infrastructure projects are being taken up by private companies with Govt. backing (and guarantees, as far as toll collection, land acquisition, etc are concerned) Few examples: DND Toll Road in Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad Airports, N.I.C.E. Ring road in Bangalore. They are doing well for now. But I can see how a few decades down the line, some lame-ass ministry decides that these should be handled by the Govt. and not by private companies. The bigger problem I see here is that slowly, private companies are going towards running defense contracts and not infrastructure projects. That's the real risk people should worry about. - Vinit > -----Original Message----- > From: silklist-bounces+vinit=bhansalimail....@lists.hserus.net > [mailto:silklist-bounces+vinit=bhansalimail....@lists.hserus.net] On > Behalf Of Perry E. Metzger > Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 12:54 AM > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net > Subject: Re: [silk] who killed bangalore? from the "churumuri" blog on > Karnataka > > > "Vinit B" <vi...@bhansalimail.com> writes: > > Here is my official email declaring this as "what rot". > > Born and bought up here. Of course I'm biased, dammit. > > > > Next time anyone has problems with Bangalore traffic, I'm going to > get > > them lined up outside the Lincoln tunnel going into NYC on Monday > > morning at 9am in the cash-only toll-lane. > > Not that you meant to bring up New York specifically, but as I live > here... > > Infrastructure in New York has been disintegrating for decades. Sadly, > so long as central planning and subsidized services are the main > mechanisms by which infrastructure will be managed, it will continue to > get worse. > > For example, the city's subways were a wonderful innovation. They were > built by private companies and made money. They were then driven into > the ground when the government limited on the fares they could charge > to below the cost of operation, following which they were bankrupted > and subsequently taken over by the state. Were entrepreneurs free to > address the city's traffic issues, doubtless numerous ways could be > found to improve them, but that was taken off the table decades ago. > > Right now, because the subways lose money on every passenger, success > makes them more and more economically unstable. Because the subways > have attracted record ridership for several years, they're on the verge > of financial collapse. Contrast this with what would happen if you had > a store and had a record number of customers -- you would be thinking > about ways to expand. > > Lest anyone think I believe there was a golden age in the past here, it > corruption and government meddling has been at the heart of the > management of New York City for around two hundred years. > Unfortunately, there is no end in sight. The majority of the local > population believe very firmly that capitalism is evil and private > organizations must not be allowed to manage infrastructure. So long as > that continues, politicians will have cover to continue mismanaging > everything in sight. > > Perry
