2005.10.14

QUOTABLE: "I'll conclude by telling you why tolls represent the American way.

Americans do not tolerate shortages. Breadlines are for communist countries. Breadlines in the Soviet Union were caused by the absence of a market mechanism to match supply with demand. The genius of the free-market American system is that for everything we produce, public or private, demand is anticipated, and capital is raised to build the infrastructure to meet the demand.

In the USSR, you could not raise capital. But here, we calculate how much people will pay and how many they will buy. Whether it is widgets or computer chips or water or electricity or college tuition. We borrow against that anticipated revenue and build our factories, our water treatment plants, our pipelines, our universities.

That is why America never has permanent shortages. Oh, except in one thing: transportation. And until we make the shift to a free market mechanism of finance - tolls - we will continue to have shortages - in the form of congestion.

Many Americans think congestion is inevitable; it is not. It is a breadline, it is un-American, and we should not tolerate it."

State Rep Mike Krusee, chair Texas House Transportation Committee speaking at ARTBA PPV in Washington DC last week.

Krusee was the author of HB3588 which gave sweeping opportunities for tolling in Texas. TOLLROADSnews 2005-10-13