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March 31, 2014

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Surface Transportation News #126

Value-Added Tolling: getting to "yes" on Interstate modernization, How to mislead with transit data, New developments in arterial underpasses

Robert Poole

In this issue:

• Value-Added Tolling: getting to "yes" on Interstate modernization
• How to mislead with transit data
• New developments in arterial underpasses
• Fifth Amendment deals setback to rails-to-trails
• Continuing debates over mileage-based user fees
• First truck toll lanes open in Tampa
• Upcoming Conferences
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

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Washington State Legislature Rejects Anti-Privatization Bill

Legislation would have created barriers to competitive contracting

Leonard Gilroy

Washington taxpayers may have just dodged a bullet in the legislature on state government contracting issues, though policymakers should be wary in case the issue resurfaces again in future legislative sessions.

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Privatized Parking a Win-Win in Indianapolis

Efficiency, operational improvements enhancing revenue to the city

Leonard Gilroy

Critics of the privatization of municipal parking assets often point to Chicago’s pioneering—albeit unpopular—implementation of it’s 75-year, $1.1 billion parking meter system lease as a warning that such deals will result in cities giving up parking-related revenues over the duration of the deal, effectively trading a long-term revenue stream for upfront cash. However, Indianapolis’s experience with parking privatization tells a far different story, one that illustrates that these are not cookie-cutter transactions, but rather customizable contracts that can—and should—be tailored to each community’s context and policy goals.

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Landowners Are the Key to Prairie Chicken Conservation

The successful approach is incentives-based, not top-down

Brian Seasholes

On March 27, the long-held fears of the oil and gas industry, various state governments, and thousands of landowners were confirmed when the lesser prairie chicken was listed under the Endangered Species Act.  The lesser prairie chicken, a member of the grouse family, has much of its habitat in the Permian Basin of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico, a region that just happens to produce 15 percent of all U.S. oil and five percent of U.S. natural gas.

In order to conserve the prairie chicken, U.S. Fish and Wildlife needs a plan.

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Ventura County Pension Reform Would Save $460 Million, Reduce Debt $1.8 Billion

Pension Reform Actuarial Analysis

Anthony Randazzo

The Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association (VCERA) is poorly positioned to stay properly funded in the coming years, and local taxpayers may be forced to pick up a hefty tab of unfunded liabilities if substantive changes are not made in the near future. An initiative by county residents would address the risk of long-term liabilities by putting new hires into a 401(k)-style defined-contribution system and phasing out the defined-benefit system over time.

A Reason Foundation analysis of the proposed reform finds that, if adopted, the initiative would save Ventura County $5.4 million in cash flow over the first two years, $51.6 million in cumulative savings over five years of reform, and $460 million in total savings over 15 years—all while separately eliminating $1.8 billion in pension debt. In the long run, moving to a new defined-contribution system would protect taxpayers from unfunded liabilities and investment return risks in public retirement systems.

 

 

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Value-Added Tolling

A Better Deal for America's Highway Users

Robert Poole

Could per-mile tolling become the primary highway funding source to replace fuel taxes? Highway users currently are not convinced that this would be in their interest. This policy brief explores the concerns of highway users and seeks to develop approaches that would be genuinely in the interest of those users.

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Propping Up Unions at Taxpayers' Expense

Charter cities challenge California's attempt to take away their fiscal autonomy

Leonard Gilroy

In some potential good news for Orange County's charter cities, four San Diego County cities just filed a lawsuit seeking to strike down a new state law that would strong-arm charter cities into paying "prevailing wages" to workers on public works projects starting in 2015.

The suit targets Senate Bill 7, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last October, which was an overt attempt to impose the state's will on charter cities. Unlike general law cities, charter cities are governed by voter-approved charters granting policymakers flexibility on issues like wages.

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Innovators in Action 2014

How governments and agencies are using market-based policies to improve services, become more efficient and reduce costs

Leonard Gilroy

Edited by Reason Foundation's Leonard Gilroy, the Innovators in Action 2014 series profiles a range of innovators who have demonstrated leadership through action on privatization, competition, government re-invention and other market-based policy reforms designed to reduce the costs of government and deliver more value to taxpayers. Innovator interviews or self-penned articles will be added on a monthly basis throughout the year, so be sure to check back frequently for new content.

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