New Mexico is facing a well-documented transportation crisis. Everything from raising taxes to shifting existing revenues around has been discussed as a means of bridging the gap.
While stopping the Rail Runner must be seen as a bare minimum in the effort to resolve this crisis and shifting transportation revenues back to transportation must also be considered, the fact is that new revenue sources are needed. The question is, do we want to keep funneling transportation money through the government or can the role of the free market be expanded. As transportation expert Bob Poole writes in today’s Albuquerque Journal, toll roads, if done correctly, can be a part of the solution here in New Mexico. At the very least, enabling legislation should be enacted to make such efforts possible.
If Albuquerque had more expressways and/or toll higways, the solution to our transportation problems would be eminent. However, most New Mexicans want more means of solving these unwelcome situations we are facing without paying more taxes. That doesn’t work. Unfortunatley, we cannot dig for scraps in terms of extra revenue. So, the proactive measures we must take are not by introducing more taxes, but to add tolls to the developmental stages of our roadways both future and current.
I’m not sure that Albuquerque needs more highways. That said, I do think private companies should be authorized to build such roads and levy tolls on them. We need to leverage private dollars to solve our infrastructure problems.