Without Government, Who will build the Roads?

Without Government, who will build the roads? The simple answer is people. People have always built roads and that service will not disappear unless automobiles become useless. Believe it or not, the automobile manufacturing industry has a direct interest in providing roads for everyone so they can own a monopoly on transportation. Government insures the automobile industry’s assets will remain profitable if they follow their laws for manufacturing vehicles. The automobile industry remains profitable because roads are accessible for all at the expense of government’s taxpayers.

Most people are against monopolies because of what they were taught in public schools, but I wonder if these people ever considered that government, itself, is a monopoly on most services, such as postal service, roads, protection, and much more. When a business makes a lot of money competing against one of government’s services, the government must make a law to prohibit such acts in order for it to obtain more control over that market.

There are inventors out there who have invented other means of personal transportation, but governments have shut them down through patents and laws that prohibit such means of transportation. Unlike private businesses, Government receives money whether people choose to use its products or services.

Why should roads and transportation be privatized or out of government control?

The answer is simple; a private business’ goal is to increase profits. A private business increases profit by providing a product/service that is wanted by consumers. If the consumer wants a product/service, then they will purchase the product/service based on variables that are subjectively important to them, such as: quality, price, value, quantity, convenience, etc. If the private business owner does not meet the demands of the consumer, then the business will lose profits and possibly fail. It is natural for businesses to arise and fail. When private businesses fail, it leaves opportunity for new business to open, new innovations to occur and businesses to gain the competitive advantage.

This differs from government control (public sector) because government taxes people and has a set budget each year to upkeep such products and services. Government cannot upkeep its product/services at the same level as a private business. A private business owner can see a problem and immediately fix it to insure their business stays up and running, meanwhile government must ration its funds because it has a set budget. It may not have funds available immediately to fix the problem. The only way government can “invest” or improve the quality of its product/services is by raising the budget, which will increase taxes. Another reason government control of product/services is worse than private business is because government has no incentive to provide better services to its consumers. If no one uses its product/services, government still receives its money. Government remains artificially alive through coercion, while private businesses must compete to earn your trust in their products/services in order to make profit.

An example would be a private road owner who wants to maximize profit. Anytime a potential consumer decides to choose a competitor's private road, it means less profit. A common instance where this would happen is rush hour traffic, if there was a private road that rarely got congested with traffic, more people would use that particular road. If there is roads known to have traffic, people are less likely to use that road. Government has no incentive for profit, therefore there is no incentive to create a better roadway to take on more traffic.

Without government regulations, wouldn’t roads be unsafe?

Drivers would have the choice to choose to drive on insured roads or uninsured roads. The owner of the private road would make the rules that would need to be followed by consumers. The owner would also need to hire its own enforcement of their rules. The only difference between this set of ideas and the current government forced ideas is that consent is involved. If you do not like certain rules on particular roads, the individual has a choice to avoid them. Currently with the government monopoly on roads, you have no choice but to follow their laws, even if you think they are ridiculous. If you don't follow their laws, you will be fined.

Uninsured private roads would need to prove they are worthy of being driven on in order for the consumer to take on the risk of driving on that private road. If a consumer is willing to drive down that uninsured private road, then the consumer assumes certain risks. All private roads would require the user to accept the terms and rules of that particular road. If the rules of this uninsured private road are too strict or unjust, it would deter consumers from driving on it. Too much deterrence will diminish profits for the owner.

Insured private roads would have multiple sets of standards for the road. The insurance company insuring the private road would require: timely inspections for safety of the road; certain rules of the road; rule enforcers; medical services; etc. If these standards are not provided, it would be tough for the owner of the private road to obtain insurance. While insurance is not required, it would be a huge determining factor for a consumer in a world without government.

Without government traffic signs and patterns, wouldn’t it be difficult to know the rules of all roads?

Not quite. There would be a new line of businesses who accredit roads for meeting certain requirements or having certain rules. There would also be common rules with different roads. Special signs/notifications would need to show/explain any uncommon rules for certain roads. After all, who would drive on a road when one sees people constantly getting pulled over for breaking irrational rules?

The public would rely on certain sponsors of the roads, similar to businesses now who are accredited by the Better Business Bureau. Also, think about snow slopes for skiing. Ski Resorts have developed universal ratings for their slopes such as green circle, blue square and black diamond to help their consumers. Government did not force the ski resorts to come up with these ratings, the natural market found these ratings beneficial to the consumers which made it a common practice to have them. Insurance companies also found those ratings beneficial to the business in order to lower liability for damages.

Wouldn’t it start to get annoying paying tolls for every road you drive on?

There would be different types of private roads and different ways private roads would make profit.

Without government, a lot of people would come to the conclusion that all roads would now become toll roads. This is false. Toll roads are only one of the many ways owners of private roads could make profit. There would also be similar private companies to E-Z Pass, where you would not need to stop at every toll booth.

If certain private roads have high traffic volumes, then advertising via billboards and signs would pay for the upkeep of the road. Similar to how facebook is free to users, but is a multi-million dollar company because of its advertising capabilities to its users.

Another example would be the Radio. Free radio for the public, but advertising costs pay for the upkeep of the stations. If you would like no advertisements, you can pay a monthly fee to have satellite radio which has no commercials. The best part of this is that you get to choose what is best for you.

The other type of road would be a private road only for its members, such as homeowner’s associations and neighborhoods. These types of roads would be privately subsidized through contract of the neighborhood.