Interest Group: Don't Privatize Rest Stops

[Rothman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

Well-played.

[kalvado]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

Well-played.

Is it possible to regulate anything at all without having someone deeply upset over those regulations?

[MNHighwayMan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

Well-played.

Is it possible to regulate govern anything at all without having someone deeply upset over those regulations?

Fixed that for you.

Short answer is no.
Long answer is hell no.

It doesn't matter what you do–could be the smallest change–and someone is going to be upset by it. Governance isn't about finding something everyone is happy about–it's about finding something that the least number of people are upset about.

[jeffandnicole]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

Well-played.

Is it possible to regulate govern anything at all without having someone deeply upset over those regulations?

Fixed that for you.

Short answer is no.
Long answer is hell no.

It doesn't matter what you do—could be the smallest change—and someone is going to be upset by it. Governance isn't about finding something everyone is happy about—it's about finding something that the least number of people are upset about.

It doesn't matter how gruesome, illegal or immoral something is; there will always be a group of people opposed to it. 

[kalvado]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

Well-played.

Is it possible to regulate govern anything at all without having someone deeply upset over those regulations?

Fixed that for you.

Short answer is no.
Long answer is hell no.

It doesn't matter what you do–could be the smallest change–and someone is going to be upset by it. Governance isn't about finding something everyone is happy about–it's about finding something that the least number of people are upset about.

It doesn't matter how gruesome, illegal or immoral something is; there will always be a group of people opposed to it.

All the good things in our life are either illegal, immoral, or result in gaining weight...

[hbelkins]

It doesn't matter how gruesome, illegal or immoral something is; there will always be a group of people opposed to in favor of it.

FIFY.

[inkyatari]

I guess it all depends on location.  At the very least, there needs to be a bit more services at some rest areas, and simple vending machines don't cut it, as I think Brandon said.

[kalvado]

It doesn't matter how gruesome, illegal or immoral, but profitable something is; there will always be a group of people opposed to in favor of yet opposed to it.

FIFY.

Nope
Fixed one more time:

[renegade]

I can't think of any rest area in my neck of the woods that would be big enough for any kind of development such as restaurants, convenience store and truck stop/fuel serviices.

Maybe this one, just outside of Chelsea, Michigan:  https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2942837,-83.9997887,16.82z

[inkyatari]

I can't think of any rest area in my neck of the woods that would be big enough for any kind of development such as restaurants, convenience store and truck stop/fuel serviices.

Maybe this one, just outside of Chelsea, Michigan:  https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2942837,-83.9997887,16.82z

That's a funky interchange just to the east.

[cpzilliacus]

Because the private sector's main motivation is to maximize profit, I don't know how the public property could be fairly and totally privatized.  Thinking similar contracts/leases to what the Thruway and other toll facilities do would be the only options.  Just selling property over and fully transferring ownership doesn't seem right to me.

Lease it to a private concessionaire on a long-term least (30 to 40 years), do not sell it.  That's how most U.S. toll roads with service plazas do it.

Along I-95 in Maryland and Delaware, there are three service plazas along the JFK Highway part of the road.  But in spite of those, there is plenty of off-Interstate competition at most of the interchanges.

[Jordanes]

At rest areas in Quebec I have seen basically a food truck selling small amounts of food -- sandwiches, candy, etc. How about this idea in the States?

[Beltway]

I can't think of any rest area in my neck of the woods that would be big enough for any kind of development such as restaurants, convenience store and truck stop/fuel services.

That is the issue, the Safety Rest Area concept as built on toll-free Interstate highways since the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway act, are built on a right-of-way large enough for that, but woefully inadequate for building a full-service plaza.   Expanding them would involve acquiring a lot more right-of-way and in most cases would encounter local opposition and environmental permitting obstacles

[hbelkins]

At rest areas in Quebec I have seen basically a food truck selling small amounts of food -- sandwiches, candy, etc. How about this idea in the States?

In just about every rest area I've ever stopped at in any state, signs in the vending areas indicate that proceeds go to that state's Department for the Blind, or whatever it's called. Is there some sort of federal requirement for this? And if so, would this preclude food trucks from operating?

Once, I saw some sort of local organization (may have been a youth sports league) set up selling hot dogs and burgers in West Virginia. I presume they had to get permission from someone to do that.