What are some alternative means of funding roads/highways?

[Scott5114]

Gross. Would you want every highway to be like this but worse? Imagine if we had to add gantries over roads just for billboards. No thank you. We get enough advertising on TV, radio, online, sports, etc.

That's kind of dismissive toward advertising as its own art form.  Arrays of signs and billboards provide a form of stim within an transportation landscape, heightening the user experience while also serving a useful purpose.

"Heightening the user experience" is incredibly subjective, and wholly counter to my feelings on the matter. The last thing that I want when I am trying to operate a 3,300 pound vehicle at a speed of 80 mph is some rich monocle-eating motherfucker sticking his nose into my business and begging for money.

[kphoger]

I think it's safe to say I hate advertising in all forms.

[kalvado]

I think it's safe to say I hate advertising in all forms.

It's ok to hate advertising. As long as you pay attention, you are being influenced by the message

[kphoger]

I think it's safe to say I hate advertising in all forms.

It's ok to hate advertising. As long as you pay attention, you are being influenced by the message

I actively try not to.  When ads come on the radio, I switch stations.  If all of my presets are ads, I turn the radio off.  When an ad comes on YouTube, I switch to a different program until it's over.  Etc.

[vdeane]

(2) Advertisement funding.  Almost every website is funded this way.  Why not roads?  Billboards are usually on private land, so the revenue stream typically only benefits land owners fortunate enough to own land adjacent to the road.  Why not use ROW for billboards and collect the revenue to fund the road?  Going back to Missouri, this seems like it could be particularly applicable on I-70.

Gross. Would you want every highway to be like this but worse? Imagine if we had to add gantries over roads just for billboards. No thank you. We get enough advertising on TV, radio, online, sports, etc.

Or this 

And they were building another one on the other side of the highway when this was taken.

Even more dumb is if you check the other side of the sign, it's not even an ad, it's just pseudo-PSA feel-good nonsense, further wasting the already limited rationale for those monstrosities.

Check more of the imagery.  It's a LED display with changeable messages.  In addition to the PSA, there's an ad for Elf the musical on that side.

[wxfree]

I remember a proposal in Texas to allow TxDOT to buy up land for new roads, not just for the road, but also the adjacent land, which would become highway-fronting property.  That way the increase in value would go to the state instead of the previous owner.  They could sell or lease it for much more than they paid for it.

[Ned Weasel]

What about rest areas and/or service areas with drive-in movie theaters?  Those are kind of making a comeback.  Granted, I'm not sure how you'd keep people coming back when things are trending toward watching movies at home, anyway.

[Rothman]

What about rest areas and/or service areas with drive-in movie theaters?  Those are kind of making a comeback.  Granted, I'm not sure how you'd keep people coming back when things are trending toward watching movies at home, anyway.

Wut.

[kalvado]

What about rest areas and/or service areas with drive-in movie theaters?  Those are kind of making a comeback.  Granted, I'm not sure how you'd keep people coming back when things are trending toward watching movies at home, anyway.

Wut.

Drive in for trucks may be an interesting concept. I just wonder if feature movie duration should be subtracted from required test time...

[Rothman]

What about rest areas and/or service areas with drive-in movie theaters?  Those are kind of making a comeback.  Granted, I'm not sure how you'd keep people coming back when things are trending toward watching movies at home, anyway.

Wut.

Drive in for trucks may be an interesting concept. I just wonder if feature movie duration should be subtracted from required test time...

But...a comeback...?

[Ned Weasel]

But...a comeback...?

Sadly, it's mostly because of a thing that happened over a year ago that caused indoor movie theaters to limit operations, but who knows if they'll have more staying power.

[HighwayStar]

I think it's safe to say I hate advertising in all forms.

It's ok to hate advertising. As long as you pay attention, you are being influenced by the message

I actively try not to.  When ads come on the radio, I switch stations.  If all of my presets are ads, I turn the radio off.  When an ad comes on YouTube, I switch to a different program until it's over.  Etc.

I don't even use the radio anymore, ad-block for YouTube

[bing101]

Electric car tax or car insurance bills to fund highways? I heard things that gas taxes may not be viable in the future.

[HighwayStar]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

[kalvado]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

[HighwayStar]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

[SkyPesos]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

[Roadgeekteen]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

By overseas he probably means China.

[kphoger]

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So we should keep the Honda Odyssey but ditch the Chevy Silverado 1500, correct?

[HighwayStar]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

By overseas he probably means China.

No, I mean not US territory, which extends to Mexico, Canada, etc. even though they are not technically overseas.
Yes, we should all be driving American built cars, the Japanese drive Japanese cars, the Germans drive German cars, and both are very good at keeping other vehicles out of their home market. Only the US is stupid enough to screw itself and import vehicles en masse at the expense of our own industry.

[Roadgeekteen]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

By overseas he probably means China.

No, I mean not US territory, which extends to Mexico, Canada, etc. even though they are not technically overseas.
Yes, we should all be driving American built cars, the Japanese drive Japanese cars, the Germans drive German cars, and both are very good at keeping other vehicles out of their home market. Only the US is stupid enough to screw itself and import vehicles en masse at the expense of our own industry.

So we shouldn't trade with other countries?

[HighwayStar]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

By overseas he probably means China.

No, I mean not US territory, which extends to Mexico, Canada, etc. even though they are not technically overseas.
Yes, we should all be driving American built cars, the Japanese drive Japanese cars, the Germans drive German cars, and both are very good at keeping other vehicles out of their home market. Only the US is stupid enough to screw itself and import vehicles en masse at the expense of our own industry.

So we shouldn't trade with other countries?

We should trade, but at a surplus and as an exporter of finished goods and renewables and an importer of raw materials.

[Roadgeekteen]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

By overseas he probably means China.

No, I mean not US territory, which extends to Mexico, Canada, etc. even though they are not technically overseas.
Yes, we should all be driving American built cars, the Japanese drive Japanese cars, the Germans drive German cars, and both are very good at keeping other vehicles out of their home market. Only the US is stupid enough to screw itself and import vehicles en masse at the expense of our own industry.

So we shouldn't trade with other countries?

We should trade, but at a surplus and as an exporter of finished goods and renewables and an importer of raw materials.

So an American customer should not be able to buy a Toyota car?

[HighwayStar]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

By overseas he probably means China.

No, I mean not US territory, which extends to Mexico, Canada, etc. even though they are not technically overseas.
Yes, we should all be driving American built cars, the Japanese drive Japanese cars, the Germans drive German cars, and both are very good at keeping other vehicles out of their home market. Only the US is stupid enough to screw itself and import vehicles en masse at the expense of our own industry.

So we shouldn't trade with other countries?

We should trade, but at a surplus and as an exporter of finished goods and renewables and an importer of raw materials.

So an American customer should not be able to buy a Toyota car?

Perhaps not prohibited outright, but it made an unappealing proposition. The Japanese consumer is also discouraged from buying an American car.

[Roadgeekteen]

Tariffs would be a good way to do it.

Perfectly agreed.  Stop importing clunkers from Detroit!
Oh, wait...

No, stop importing the junk from overseas.

So all German and Japanese cars are junk and we should all be driving Fords and Chevys, or whatever other car brands that are American?

By overseas he probably means China.

No, I mean not US territory, which extends to Mexico, Canada, etc. even though they are not technically overseas.
Yes, we should all be driving American built cars, the Japanese drive Japanese cars, the Germans drive German cars, and both are very good at keeping other vehicles out of their home market. Only the US is stupid enough to screw itself and import vehicles en masse at the expense of our own industry.

So we shouldn't trade with other countries?

We should trade, but at a surplus and as an exporter of finished goods and renewables and an importer of raw materials.

So an American customer should not be able to buy a Toyota car?

Perhaps not prohibited outright, but it made an unappealing proposition. The Japanese consumer is also discouraged from buying an American car.

I do support some level of protection of American industry, but maybe not this.