[thechat] politics

[Stéphane Deschamps]

<quote who='Martin Burns' when='17/03/2007 19:14'>
> On 17 Mar 2007, at 03:22, Erik Mattheis wrote:
> 
>> Anybody have an opinion on private highways? Do the European ones  
>> offer
>> advantages over publicly owned ones?
> 
> Well, advantages if you can pay the toll, yes. In that you can get  
> through the Birmingham area on a Friday afternoon within your own  
> lifespan.

The story in France: the governement decided they would let the 
motorways be built by contractors, and rather than paying them (thus 
making all the taxpayers pay for the road), the only people who would 
pay for them would be people who used them. Remember they were built 
mainly in the 60s, when everyone didn't own a car.

So the deal was: we'll make them free when they're paid for by the 
people who use them. Fair enough.

Yet they've been more than reimbursed now, and no one talks about making 
them free anymore.

Weird, uh?

Anyway, we've got a high-quality highway system here: resting parking 
lots, very high-quality emergency services, high-qaulity live 
information on a special radio channel.

I don't know if the state really felt unable to do that.

-- 
Stéphane Deschamps
	http://www.nota-bene.org/
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