For the sake of discussion

In the wake of the Minnesota Bridge tragedy there are calls to "solve the problem" by "privatizing" highways, bridges etc. I think the notion has far too many political and practical problems to be done except in rare circumstances. But it's interesting to consider in a mind-bender context.

Comments

[Gomez]

Yeah, between the relative lack of oversight and accountability, and the profit-driven motives of private ownership, that would pretty much make a bad problem worse in the long run, whether or not any benefits are reaped in the short run. It could work if governments managed the transition and oversight protocols perfectly... but HAHAHA to that. These guys can barely get anything done without weeks and months of nonproductive bickering and maneuvering.

[Zack]

I don't think that privatization of bridges automatically translates into increased safety. As a metro Detroiter, I can't help but think of the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Canada, which is privately-owned. The bridge -- which carries a whopping 25% of ALL trade between the US and Canada, and thus would logically be a terrorist target -- is largely free from federal inspection because it is privately-held. As a result, the structural quality of the bridge is not known in the way that every government-owned bridge in the country is. That said, if there is a way that we could have a privately-held bridge subject to full structural inspection and regulation by the government, then perhaps that's something looking into; lacking that, however, I'd prefer to have government-run bridges.

Oh, also, NPR did a piece on the Ambassador Bridge a couple months ago. You can listen to it here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10241088

[Benjamin Hemric]

Zack wrote:

The [Ambassador B]ridge . . . is largely free from federal inspection because it is privately-held.

Benjamin writes:

It's not clear to me why a government body (be it one from the Federal government or a state government) cannot inspect privately-owned bridges, etc. Don't governments inspect (and regulate in general) privately-held facilities (and businesses) "all the time": restaurants, meat packing plants, apartment houses, cruise ships, airplanes, etc., etc.?