Should we privatose transport, roads and electrity completely (3 Viewers)

[Uncle]

Parramatta Road's road more broken and out of shape than yo mutha's skin.
Privatise the roads and the military.
Then tank can run over car and road in piece/

 

[Riet]

The MTA seems to work pretty well.

 

[russs]

M7 is fully private, its expensive - but its an excellent road. I think its the best motorway in Syd by far.

The NSW govt. will never fix Parra Road. A toll tunnel from Burwood or whever M4 ends to the City would be great, and I would use it, even it cost $5 one way.

 

[russs]

The question is, where does the tunnel end? The new road would entice many more motorists to drive into the city. It may provide only temporary benefits, and may merely create more gridlock and chaos wherever it terminates.

Transport problems cannot be viewed in isolation. They are affected by roads, public transport and the urban structure of the city itself.

It is an extremely complex, interconnected system. The government and its bureaucracies have consistently failed to come up with workable solutions through central planning. In particular, the government creates chaos on the roads because a) they are free to use, so everyone may as well use them and b) it limits high density housing close to jobs and public transport and thus encourages urban sprawl and automobile dependence.

If all of these areas were free markets, we could finally experiment with different options and get a transport system that works.

Yes, I see where you are heading. There would be a congestion at a new point, moved from the current spot where M4 ends, but the branches off the tunnel would make it much faster to get to some areas near the City.

For example, to get to City Rd from M4 would be much quicker. High tolls would control traffic flow as well.

As it is, Parramatta Rd is an embarrassment. Its a relic.

 

[mcflystargirl]

if transport was privatised it would raise prices wouldn't it? so no.

 

[volition]

if transport was privatised it would raise prices wouldn't it? so no.

What is this based on?

 

[Serius]

What is this based on?

Well, probably because our roads are allready heavily congested, and private companies want to make a profit, so they will raise prices as high as they can as long as at least some people are still willing to pay. We currently get free travel on most roads, and a lot of public transport is subsidised, that wouldnt really happen on a private road and private rail would still want to make money. Not necessarily a bad thing, but her statement was still correct.

 

[volition]

We currently get free travel on most roads, and a lot of public transport is subsidised

Serius, that's not correct, it is not "free", you're already paying for it via taxation, such as fuel excise tax and even stuff like excessive speeding fines.

Yes it is true that private companies want to make profit, but it is also true that competition drives prices down. There are many different routes/methods possible (you could go around a given road, or use the train/plane for longer journeys) Private companies might also be more creative, for eg they might charge more during peak hours to reduce congestion and less during the traffic lulls.

Also the government has little incentive to keep costs down as it is, since they're just spending taxpayer coerced funds, rather than money they have to voluntarily get from people. This makes them spend a lot more than what is necessary. There is no system of profit and loss to keep them in line, unlike with private business.

 

[Serius]

Well i dont pay tax, but yes you are right, it really depends on what you mean by "paying for it". You basically think that in the long run, private run transport will be cheaper? i can sort of see how that might work, but i can also see how it could be a lot more expensive. If one private company owns a few key roads, they basically have a monopoly on travel from a destination. I am thinking of the F6 atm, which is the road all traffic from wollongong takes [ maybe 100,000 people live in Wollongong and commute to Sydney for work every day]. They have no choice to pay whatever that private company makes them pay in that case. Yay, $20 travel fees both ways!


I still think that whilst NSW government does a shithouse job of maintaining our roads and transportation systems[and that privatisation would be beneficial atm, because hey anything is better than this clusterfuck], this doesnt mean that government run transportation is always shitty, if you just look at other states, QLD government does an excellent job of regulating transport. I dont know why two of our states have such drastically different outcomes when they both operate on roughly the same system, maybe NSW government is just too corrupt to effectively manage a transport system.

If that is the case, is privatisation really the answer? or should we perhaps look at revolution and a new state government that is actually effective at managing one of the few areas they are in charge of.