Eleven million trucks. That’s how many 18-wheelers needed to rumble across northern Indiana in 2010 for the state’s 157-mile toll road to break even. Unfortunately, only about half that many did and the road came up $209 million short. This sounds like the beginning of yet another story about recession-ravaged states bleeding cash. And it is, sort of. The twist is that the Indiana Toll Road is managed not by the state but by a group of corporate investors, part of a public-private partnership experiment intended to show how businesses can help government run more efficiently and save taxpayers money—all while turning a profit.....
....Now five years old, the Indiana deal has yet to turn a profit, or break even. Two overseas companies—Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, a unit of Madrid-based Ferrovial, and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, an investment fund managed by Macquarie Group (MQG) of Sydney, won the right to run the road with a daring $3.8 billion bid—$1 billion more than the next-highest offer....
....Even so, the poor results could dampen enthusiasm for similar projects elsewhere. In Ohio, which faces a budget shortfall of as much as $8 billion over two years, lawmakers are considering a bill that would give Republican Governor John Kasich the authority to seek a sale or lease of the Ohio Turnpike. Kasich has optimistically suggested the road might be worth $3 billion. Given the way things are going next door, he may have a hard time finding takers willing to plunk down that kind of cash.
Not only will Ohio's drivers find higher tolls on a privately owned turnpike, but the quality of the road repairs will suffer.
Here is another view on Kasich's plan to sell off state assets. Kitsapsun:
....Intent on reducing the size of government, the state of Ohio wants to sell six prisons, thousands of parking meters, the Ohio Turnpike, its liquor sales business which brings in $230 million a year in profits and public college dorms and athletic facilities.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he wants not just a temporary infusion of cash but privatization of state services. (Never mind that when Chicago sold its parking meters, the cost of parking soared.) Kasich argues that in many cases private businesses do a better job than public employees......
....If a state or city sells a popular park, are there assurances that it will remain available for public use, be well maintained and protected from development? Will there be entrance fee that keeps people out? Once public land is sold, it's gone.....
Did you know that Kasich wanted to sell public college dorms and athletic facilities? Will you son or daughter go to college and live in the Walmart dorm or the Lehman Brothers dorm, or perhaps the Stay-free Maxi pad dorm?