This is the most stupid thing our government has done. Rendel is a Democrat, but he is also lacking in common sense. What gives them the right to sell our country.

What incentive does a private company have to do a better job? There often isn’t an alternate route, especially for major highways, so road quality can’t become a competitive differentiator. Since that eliminates any potential for competition over road quality and service, it seems like the benefit to consumers/taxpayers non-existent - a profit minded firm will do the minimum maintenance required while collecting tolls that they can set arbitrarily. The only market action available to the consumer in other situations, buy someone else’s product, is not available. As things stand now, you can at least vote someone new into office if the highways are terribly maintained. What are you going to do when they’re privately owned? Take a number at the complaint department?

So it doesn’t seem to be in the average citizen’s best interest to move from a taxpayer-liable monopoly on roads to a shareholder-liable monopoly on roads. In fact, it seems like a shortsighted maneuver that will ultimately result in lesser or equivalent service for higher prices.

It only seems to me that these people will put a toll on all these roads and bridges and every time it cost them more so the toll will be raised. Where then will be the savings to the tax payers and users of these infrastructures? What happens when the ten year contracts are up? The cost will only go up for the people once again. Gov. Rendel doesn’t sound to smart to me.

The politicians want to sell everything and cut themselves in on the deal.

In Europe, they have the contractors bid the initial build of the roads along with the maintenance. This way, the contractor is motivated to build a higher quality road so that they reduce the maintenance costs as much as possible. Here in the US, the companies bid just for the construction or maintenance, but not both at the same time. There is no incentive to build a better quality road up front.

Rendell would lease the turnpike and retain the state stores. He’s “Fast Eddie” a Phila Democrat and he knows what side of the Bagel goes the cream cheese.

i think we should sell the interstate highway system to the petro-sovereign country funds…then they can own the roads and sell us their gas…eisenhower would turn over in his grave

One often overlooked rationale for building subpar roads: sig. amount of normal maintenance required, to be provided by clout-heavy construction/road maintenance co’s. European politicians don’t need funds for TV spots, so they don’t need as many “friends” to finance campaigns. TV is expensive.

RENDELL (FAST EDDIE) CAN’T HANDLE THE JOB OF GOV. BUT GO ON TV SPORTS SHOWS EVERY WEEK.?????

This is just plain stupid.

People honestly believe private industry runs better then government?

I’ve worked for both and
you know what i think?

They both can be pretty lousy at providing services to the public because of corruption, profiteering, and Enroning the public sphere through statistical manipulation.

In short these states are being con.

But you got to oove the con man, he’s the best damn swindler out there.

And if Chicago ain’t the home of the “con” then I don’t what is.

“He’s a mark
take him for a ride!”

Three cheers for the “con” man !
Let’s see how this swindle works out for Pennsylvania !

I’m loving the swundle and so out in public too.
It makes a man laugh a good hearty laugh.

Good luck Ed!
let me know how it works out for you!

Ha!
I’m laughing over here!

Ha!

have a good day fellas
this is really funny stuff!

Why do we want the people responsible for operating and maintaining infrastructure to be responsible to shareholders instead of voters? Making money for shareholders is not the same as keeping voters (commuters) happy. How can selling a public revenue stream (tolls) to private equity possibly raise the same amount of capital as using the revenue stream to pay the interest on a municipal bond? The yield private equity would demand on its investment would always be greater than the interest on an equivalent municipal bond. If the Triboro bridges are worth 100 billion to an investor; then, the tolls should be able to fund a municipal bond of about 200 billion. What am I missing here?

Mr Reilly, what you are missing is the incredible waste, corruption, and theivery by public transit toll workers. In Jacksonville, when the tolls were eliminated in exchange for a half cent sales tax, the government was amazed at the positive cash flow generated, and belately discovered the “leakage” of revenue at the tolls. You might say that the same would exist with privatazation, however, private industry is much more skillful at monetary controls than the public institutions, just look at Congress, now considering more price supports for millionaire corporate farmers.

In NYC, the West Side Hwy collapsed,after years of neglect, so they closed that part of it. Government is not capable of long-term thinking, or preventative maintenance. A private firm will maintain- which has been proven to be very cost effective.

Privitization is such a panacea. Corporations are so efficient. They never go bankrupt, they never cook their books, they never gouge their customers, they never overpay their executives, and they are forever inspecting and reinspecting, and never ever cut corners to save money. And if they ever do, their shareholders can vote them out, since corporations are well known to be exquisitely responsive to their customers and shareholders. Corporate executives are so much better than those politicians who are always worried about what the voters think of them.

To Bitter Middle American: Kind of reminds me of the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman” when Lou Gossett Jr is trying to break Richard Gere and Gossett says
“Why would a slick hustler like you
sign up for this abuse?” or he also says “You’d probably zipp off in my F-16
and sell it to the Cubans.”

Just ask the people of Boston how the “Big Dig” has been going, billions over budget and years beyond deadline because so many contracts were given to private firms. Companies have one purpose, to make profit, not work for the public inteterest, although that was the original purpose of state corporate chaters, forgotten so many years ago. Long live the corporate fascist state!!

There still needs to be some sort of language in the lease that allows the government of Pennsylvania to inspect/monitor the conditions of roadways. A certain standard has got to be set to ensure that the quality of the roads not just remains the same but actually improves over the course of the 99 year lease.

Do not feed the politicians any longer. Stop all the mindless driving. Make these roads look the the scenes from I AM LEGEND. Use the internet instead. Digitize all your life procedures. People are currently driving long distances TO SIT IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER SCREEN. If you need a friend, get a dog.

I can’t seem to find one good reason why our government would make such a mistake, but that seems to be the norm anymore!!