Roads owned by non-governmental entities
A private road is a road owned and maintained by a private individual, organization or company rather than by a government. Consequently, unauthorized use of the road may be considered trespassing, and some of the usual rules of the road may not apply — however, in some cases the owner of the road may permit the general public to use the road at their own risk. The most common types of private road are residential roads maintained by a homeowners association, housing co-op or other group of individual homeowners, and industrial roads maintained by a corporation for access to an industrial facility.
Articles
Private Roads and the Economics of the Environment, by Scott McPherson, 6 Aug 2003
Roads, Cars, and Responsibility, by Scott McPherson, 7 Apr 2004
Discusses the status of car transportation around the Washington, DC metropolitan area and suggests private road ownership as a solution
Discusses the status of car transportation around the Washington, DC metropolitan area and suggests private road ownership as a solution
Like food ... and the many other goods and services that Americans enjoy in abundance, roads should be built and maintained by the private sector—for profit. Legislators in Richmond and Annapolis should consider selling existing roads in the metropolitan area to private owners, and leave future road projects to be negotiated between roadbuilders and area landowners. This would have immediate and unexpected positive consequences. First, gridlock would very likely become a thing of past ... The rising price of travel would undoubtedly increase the popularity of mass transit systems, as well.
Interviews
Radical Economics: An Interview with Walter Block, by Walter Block, Austrian Economics Newsletter, 1999
Discusses topics such as the effect of Rothbard's death, Block's own intellectual development, the legality of blackmail and barriers to Austrians in academia
Discusses topics such as the effect of Rothbard's death, Block's own intellectual development, the legality of blackmail and barriers to Austrians in academia
AEN: You are also a leading expert on road privatization.
Block: The issue is at last having its day in the sun. States and localities are periodically permitting private entrepreneurs to build them, but private owners are still not trusted to manage them. Yet it should be clear that government cannot manage roads. Highways are incredibly dangerous, with 38,000 people dying on them every year. And yet there is very little outcry. The same is true of traffic congestion. There are objections to private roads, but none of them hold water.
Block: The issue is at last having its day in the sun. States and localities are periodically permitting private entrepreneurs to build them, but private owners are still not trusted to manage them. Yet it should be clear that government cannot manage roads. Highways are incredibly dangerous, with 38,000 people dying on them every year. And yet there is very little outcry. The same is true of traffic congestion. There are objections to private roads, but none of them hold water.
Videos
Gridlock: Hell on Wheels, by Drew Carey, Reason TV, 14 Oct 2007
Reviews traffic problems around Los Angeles, California, and private alternatives
Podcasts
Road Socialism, by Walter Block, The Lew Rockwell Show, 20 Aug 2008
Rockwell talks with Block about the privatization of roads and streets, subject of an upcoming book
Rockwell talks with Block about the privatization of roads and streets, subject of an upcoming book
The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Private road" as of 1 Apr 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.