America's Toll Roads Heritage: The Achievements of Private Initiative in the 19th Century
Scandinavian Economics Working Paper No. 30
Chap. 12, pp. 305-325 in Gabriel Roth, ed., Street Smart: Competition, Entrepreneurship, and the Future of Roads (Transaction Publishers, 2006).
40 Pages Posted: 19 Jan 2004 Last revised: 30 Aug 2021
Date Written: December 29, 2003
Abstract
Private toll roads shaped and accommodated trade and migration routes, leaving social and political imprints on the communities that debated and supported them. Private road building came and went in waves throughout the 19th century and across the country. All told, between 2,500 and 3,200 companies successfully financed, built, and operated their toll road. Although most of these roads operated for only a fraction of the 100+ period, the combined mileage of private toll roads that operated at any point in time would be in range of 30,000 to 52,000 miles. The paper explores the character, methods, and purposes of the private toll roads, and draws lessons for the privatization of highways today.
Keywords: Toll roads, turnpikes, plank roads, privatization, free riding, regulation
JEL Classification: N71, N91, L92
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation