THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511100005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
At a gathering of state highway officials in Norfolk last month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Fedrico Pena said, ``It's time to recognize that roadbuilding is not a government monopoly anymore.'' He said local, state and federal governments invest $40 billion annually in U.S. bridges, highways and transit projects - half of what's needed for growth.
Pena was speaking in the state that leads the nation in turning to the private sector for transportation help. The recently completed Dulles Greenway Toll Road in Northern Virginia is the first privately funded major public road in the U.S. in modern times. Also, the commonwealth's Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 makes it easier here than anywhere else for governments - including city, county and airport counsels or commissions - to sign transportation contracts with private firms.
Jane Garvey, deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, called the Virginia act ``elegant in its simplicity.'' Her department has worked with the Virginia Department of Transportation in setting up ways to privatize transportation. ``We've given technical advice,'' Garvey told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, ``but we're also learning.''
Some might view it as bad news that Virginia is the guinea pig in the national movement toward transportation privatization, but where privatization works, waiting is unwise.
The state lacks the money for many needed roads. With private roadbuilding, financial risks are taken by private companies, in expectation of profits from tolls. The motorists who pay the tolls are the ones who use the roads. It all sounds fair.
James River Parkway Associates, which constructed the Dulles toll road, has proposed completing the Route 288 beltway around Richmond, including a stretch past Motorola Inc.'s $3 billion microchip plant to be built in Goochland County and to employ up to 5,000. Some local officials balk at the idea of their residents paying tolls if state money can be found for construction. But one way or another, the road, like many others, is needed.
One disquieting aspect of the possibility of many state-private roadbuilding contracts is Gov. George Allen's relaxed attitude toward regulating business.
An example is his new Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, which is to take over regulation of car dealers. Sixteen of its 19 members represent the car industry and at least 10 are Allen contributors or GOP activists. The governor has reaped $71,800 through companies that now have representatives on the new motor-vehicle board.
The question will always be raised: Are private roadbuilders with connections getting sweet deals?
In our two-party system, however, many members of the other party will be watching closely, as will the press.
Allen and his transportation people are smart to seek private funds for badly needed roads. The other state transportation departments are watching to see how the Virginia experiment works. It should be noted that this nation rode to greatness on public roads, and we would hate to see, 20 years from now, a hodgepodge of private roads, making travel expensive and confusing. Still, in some cases, privatization will greatly speed up roadbuilding. by CNB