Comments by "Bushrod Rust Johnson" (@MilwaukeeF40C) on "Chicago sold the Chicago Skyway for $1.8 billion" video.

  1. "Public private partnerships" are usually worse than either fully private or fully public entities.
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  2. Illinois is an armpit of the midwest and it has nothing to do with Indiana. All of the leaching off the Illinois economy is by its own state and local governments.
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  3. WHEE HEEE!!! SHAMONA!!!
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  4. Ordinary platted and prescriptive streets and roads can not be sold because no specific entity has complete ownership of them unless they are legally vacated. Access to them is a Lockean style property right, affirmed in common law, that assures people can make practical use of their own private property and get from one parcel to another.
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  5. Public bridges exceed their design lifespans all the time because too many were built and there is no funding source that can keep up with their replacement. "Free" or underpriced tolls are a handout to trucks which do the most damage to road pavements and bridge decks.
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  6. All interstate and limited access highways should be fully privatized. Toll roads, redevelopment, farm land, drag strips, whatever the new owners want to do with them.
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  7. "We know it isn't free, we pay gasoline taxes!! Why should we also then pay tolls?" Fuel taxes are one of the most misallocated taxes- and impossible to allocate by actual use. They should be completely abolished in favor of direct user fees (tolls). So much taxed fuel does not even get used on public roads- it gets used idling, driving though private parking lots, even in off-road power equipment. It is technically legal to use untaxed fuel in a lawnmower, but good luck finding it. Most local streets are paid for with property taxes and do not get fuel tax revenue at all. The worst thing is when fuel tax revenue gets spent on bullshit like bike paths.
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  8. 80/94 should become a tollway too. Maybe even U.S. 30.
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  9. Most highways are "free" for all traffic. The damage that trucks do is not proportionally recouped by taxes they pay. There are really two sources of damage to pavement- weather and heavy axle loads. Theoretically for rigid concrete pavement, without weather damage, the lifespan is essentially infinite if only cars used it.
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  10. Are you accusing corruption?
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  11. Tolls are of no concern to me whatsoever since the transponder in my business vehicle gets settled at no cost to me by someone who probably never looks at the bill. Every time I have intended to take the Skyway just to check it out if I have to go out that way, I have missed the correct exits and say "fuck it" and take one of the other two or three main routes which are never too bad either. I've been on the Skyway as a passenger.
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  12. There is nothing special about Illinois or Indiana. Chicago and its affect on politics is the dealbreaker for Illinois.
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  13. Non-highway roads should not have tolls or "peak" fees as this undermines their primary purpose of direct access to property. Nobody is entitled to any particular level of convenience, so if there is traffic, it is what it is and individuals can find alternate behaviors on their own. Putting a toll on "Oak Street" is almost like putting a toll on somebody's driveway.
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  14. The state government put too many restrictions and obligations on the deal, and there is a parallel non tolled interstate and a U.S. highway route.
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  15. $1.8 billion did not make a dent in Chicago's brokeness. That money was spent instantly on debt.
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  16. " Every time I go to work, It cost me $1.50 to get on I-88 and another $1.50 to get off. Then I have to do it all again at the end of the day." That's cheap. I am guessing your workplace has its own lot.
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  17. If these things can be funded by direct user fees, what's the point of having the state involved in them at all?
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