TxDOT to buy out private operator of 288 tollway (Houston, Austin: buying, construction)

[Mr. Clutch]

TxDOT is apparently going to spend $1.7B to buy out the private operator of the 288 toll lanes. This is probably a good thing if it eventually results in lower tolls more in line with the rest of the system. I don't see the point if its still going to cost $13 from Pearland to the Medical Center. HCTRA and BCTRA should have built those lanes instead of some foreign company - I don't understand why this deal ever came about in the first place.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...s-19372016.php

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

TxDOT is apparently going to spend $1.7B to buy out the private operator of the 288 toll lanes. This is probably a good thing if it eventually results in lower tolls more in line with the rest of the system. I don't see the point if its still going to cost $13 from Pearland to the Medical Center. HCTRA and BCTRA should have built those lanes instead of some foreign company - I don't understand why this deal ever came about in the first place.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...s-19372016.php

Sounds smart for a change.

[Dopo]

Why not just let the market decide instead of making all tax payers pay for it?

[Dopo]

If we are losing money with this purchase … why is TXDOT buying it back?

https://abc13.com/amp/highway-288-to...ffic/14589604/

About eight years ago, TxDOT signed a contract with a private company called Blueridge Transportation Group that allowed them to build and run the toll lanes on 288.

The deal was supposed to be good for 50 years, but now, the state is going to pay that company $1.7 billion over the next few months for the lanes. That total is more than $600 million more than it cost to build and maintain, according to our partners at the Houston Chronicle.

Buying back the tollway, and creating a nonprofit corporation to oversee it could, in the long run, make the state money

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by Dopo

If we are losing money with this purchase … why is TXDOT buying it back?

https://abc13.com/amp/highway-288-to...ffic/14589604/

About eight years ago, TxDOT signed a contract with a private company called Blueridge Transportation Group that allowed them to build and run the toll lanes on 288.

The deal was supposed to be good for 50 years, but now, the state is going to pay that company $1.7 billion over the next few months for the lanes. That total is more than $600 million more than it cost to build and maintain, according to our partners at the Houston Chronicle.

Buying back the tollway, and creating a nonprofit corporation to oversee it could, in the long run, make the state money

Because the state can make money on tolls indefinitely. These types of private concessions on roads aren't allowed anymore, and for good reason. They were simply a way to finance road construction at a time when the state was relatively strapped for cash. That's not the case anymore, so they are righting a wrong that should have never happened in the first place.

I'm not a fan of toll roads in general and generally believe roads are one of the things taxes should pay for. With that said, if you have to have toll roads, low tolls are better than high ones.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

Because the state can make money on tolls indefinitely. These types of private concessions on roads aren't allowed anymore, and for good reason. They were simply a way to finance road construction at a time when the state was relatively strapped for cash. That's not the case anymore, so they are righting a wrong that should have never happened in the first place.

I'm not a fan of toll roads in general and generally believe roads are one of the things taxes should pay for. With that said, if you have to have toll roads, low tolls are better than high ones.

The folks in Austin will never raise taxes enough to pay for roads. So, we get toll roads instead.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

I'm not a fan of toll roads in general and generally believe roads are one of the things taxes should pay for. With that said, if you have to have toll roads, low tolls are better than high ones.

Isn’t that the idea of a toll road?
Let a private business build it and charge whatever they want to use it?

That’s what I’ve been told for years by republicans
But the moment that a toll road is not profitable, the private business is bailed out and tax payers are stuck with the bill “because it wasn’t profitable for them”

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Isn’t that the idea of a toll road?
Let a private business build it and charge whatever they want to use it?

That’s what I’ve been told for years by republicans
But the moment that a toll road is not profitable, the private business is bailed out and tax payers are stuck with the bill “because it wasn’t profitable for them”

I think the distinction is that when the state or a local toll road authority like HCTRA builds a toll road, it's tolled to recoup the costs. When a private company builds a toll road, it's built to make a profit, hence the much higher tolls. I saw this in Virginia as well when a private company converted I-66 to a toll road for certain hours of the day. $40 tolls for a 10 mile stretch were not uncommon.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

I think the distinction is that when the state or a local toll road authority like HCTRA builds a toll road, it's tolled to recoup the costs. When a private company builds a toll road, it's built to make a profit, hence the much higher tolls. I saw this in Virginia as well when a private company converted I-66 to a toll road for certain hours of the day. $40 tolls for a 10 mile stretch were not uncommon.

If a government agency is going to build the toll road
Why not just use tax dollars, it’s the same thing.

I don’t see them building toll roads for small towns
It’s always toll roads where millions of city commuters need to drive to work.

[As Above So Below...]

The 288 tolls are so high its not worth it. Its not like the Beltway, Hardy, or Westpark which have more reasonable fees.