| 摘要 | President Trump’s infrastructure plan proposes to improve the humble highway rest stop. I do mean humble—if not desolate, and at night even menacing.
Since 1960, federal law has limited commercial activity on most of America’s roughly 1,200 rest stops to vending machines, maps and brochures. With almost no income, operating and maintaining these areas has been a drain on state budgets. Some officials are threatening to shutter them.
The restrictions were meant to protect local businesses along interstate highways from competition. But many local restaurants have long since been replaced by fast-food chains. Why should drivers have to waste time and fuel leaving the interstate to get a burger and fries?
Mr. Trump’s plan would allow rest areas to be converted into valuable revenue-producing assets. Many are strategically located with easy on- and offramps, sidewalks, streetlights and restrooms already installed. Adding restaurants and shops would be inexpensive and profitable. The renovated stops could also offer amenities such as electric-vehicle charging stations.
Rest stops that aren’t subject to federal restrictions illustrate the possibilities. The privately owned Iowa 80 Truckstop, for one, is located near the interstate, just off an exit ramp. It hosts almost 5,000 visitors each day and features 900 parking spaces, a movie theater, dentist, barber, library, showers and a dog wash.
Or look at rest stops in Delaware, New Jersey and other places that were inaugurated before 1960 and grandfathered in under the new rules. They operate through concessions with private companies. The success of this approach is illustrated by two newly renovated rest stops in Maryland that are exempt from normal restrictions, Maryland House and Chesapeake House. They are fully refurbished thanks to a $56 million investment by a private partner, and the state estimates that the renovated structures support 575 jobs.
The potential value of such stops is enormous. Moreover, numerous rest-area renovations could be bundled together and bid out as a group, providing the scale needed to attract global operating companies while providing appealing opportunities for institutional investors.
After rest stops, what’s the next stop? The array of infrastructure owned by state and local governments includes roads, bridges, tunnels, streetlights, sidewalks, ports, airports, drinking-water systems, wastewater-treatment systems, schools, prisons, courthouses, firehouses, police stations and office buildings.
They could generate considerable revenue with more-effective management, including leasing, concessions, commercialization and in some cases sales. Wise federal policy can encourage that transition, ensuring that drivers can rest better.
Mr. Geddes is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and director of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy. |
