Chad the Elder — who kindly nominated this blog for Mitch Berg's Unintentionally Funniest Leftyblog Contest — loves the toll road connecting Denver with Denver International Airport. He praises the E-470's "wide-open, hassle free ride" and friendly attendants:
I have to believe that these attendants are not state employees and if that is the case, they--and the E-470--make a powerful argument for further privatization of our highways and byways.
Chad is right about the road, but he confuses efficient service with privatization. The E-470 was built and is run by a public authority composed of the municipalities bordering the road; the authority's transportation role is similar to Minnesota's Met Council's. It not only charges a toll; operations are partly financed by vehicle registration fees.
If that doesn't burst his bubble, the highway has been designed to allow for the addition of multi-use paths and, in the median, future mass transit.
Here, we don't "have to believe" anything. We may be funny, but we're factual.
