Private Folly, Public Price

Posted on August 10, 2004 in Folly Watch The Orange

Today I had occasion to ride The Toll Roads twice, once for an early morning teeth cleaning and once enroute to the airport. There’s a secret that some of us know: if you follow Portola Road in Irvine eastwards, you come to a place where you can save 75 cents to one dollar (depending on the time of day) on the road. This is a fine deal until you realize the political shenanigans which the owners of this pork barrel finagled.

Logic would have it that Portola Road in Irvine would connect to Portola Road in Lake Forest. But there’s a problem and that is called The Toll Roads. If this connection were made, people like myself seeking a faster route between the two towns would use it instead of the payway. The only thing keeping the toll roads alive — barely — is this monopoly. Which brings me to a point: if private industry cannot make a profit without government intervention, perhaps privatization isn’t a particularly good idea? Heresy! comes the scarlet cry from those who have brainwashed us into believing that unelected private executives can be held more accountable than elected public officials.

If the route were owned and maintained by the government, there would be no need to suppress the Portola Road extension. But then democratic governments serve the People, not speculators.