Overview

As North Carolina struggles to find money for new roads, powerful corporate interests are offering to build these roads so that they can collect decades of escalating tolls from North Carolina drivers. These deals are dangerous because they can threaten the public’s ability to control its own roads and they are unlikely to get full value for the toll “tax” they give away. Before even considering these deals, public officials must ensure that public control will be maintained and that toll companies won’t make out like bandits with our toll money. Below are 6 principles for responsible road privatization deals:

1. Retain public control over transportation planning and management.

2. Ensure that the public receives fair long-term value for assets. Just because a state or locality faces dire fiscal straits, they shouldn’t sell public assets at a discount.

3. No deals longer than 30 years because lawmakers can not reasonably anticipate our transportation needs or assess the value of toll roads beyond a few decades.

4. Require state-of-the-art safety and maintenance standards that will increase over time.

5. Complete transparency and accountability must be maintained so the public knows the complete terms of specific proposed deals and lawmakers must vote on them.

6. No budget gimmicks. If governments do sign these deals, the money must be used to address other long-term transportation needs.