On Friday, June 6, 2014 4:13:41 PM UTC-4, Stephen Sprunk wrote:   
      
   > On average (ignoring bubbles), land values go up at about the rate of   
   general inflation.    
      
   Land is finite.  As the population increases, there is more demand for land,   
   so the price is bid upward.   
      
   Even 'old' land, ie brownfields, can be expensive due to steep clean-up costs   
   for the former industry located there   
       
       
   > Wider lanes and lower grades do increase costs, but that pales in comparison   
   to the sharp increase in materials costs.    
      
   It's more than just lanes and grades, it includes better materials, more   
   hardware ("bots dots"), more lighting, more guardrail, headlight screening,   
   noise barriers.  Also, higher traffic volumes require more new lanes.   
      
   They rebuilt a 1950s-era expressway, and it was basically a complete   
   reconstruction.  The old road, with its tiny median, non existent   
   entrance/exit ramps, tiny shoulders was a death trip.  All of that was   
   improved at steep cost.  Indeed, rebuilding an    
   existing road where traffic must be maintained is more expensive than building   
   a new road from scratch.   
      
      
   >Local surface roads directly benefit the property owners; just _having_ a   
   road is of benefit, regardless of how much they use it.    
      
   Yes, but the benefit varies.  We have neighbors who go out ten times a day,   
   and neighbors who drive out but once a week.  Usage should be charged to those   
   who use it most.   
      
      
      
   > OTOH, there is such a huge range in fuel economy, especially with the advent   
   of plug-in hybrids, that it doesn't have much of a link to the usage of roads.   
   Also, it doesn't take into account the variation in the costs of different   
   roads.    
      
   This is all true, but have some usage-charge is still better than a flat   
   rate.  Charges do tend to encourage efficiency.  When gasoline gets expensive,   
   people seek more efficient vehicles (which is good), and also plan their   
   driving better to save    
   mileage, which is also good.   
      
   The ease of collection of a fuel tax is a very important consideration.  We   
   _theorectically_ could collect on mileage and weight with today's computerized   
   systems, but it would still be open to lots of abuse.   
      
      
   > Are they elected? And are those elections open or is the electorate so   
   lopsided (or districts so gerrymandered) that voting is moot?    
      
   Yes, they're elected.  But sadly, these days voters are so jaded that they   
   don't bother to vote or pay attention.   
      
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