On the Road in America
Businesses have long profited from dressing up ordinary commodities in fancy packaging. General Motors beat the competition by offering cars in a variety of colors and styles while Ford was still featuring basic black. American consumers need an enticement to open their wallets. They want to enjoy fulfilling their basic needs and take pride in following the latest trends.
Private organizations understand consumers and are busy plastering their industrial artwork everywhere in sight. We see the logo and we recognize the company. Pushy ducks, talking insects and smiling tigers speak for corporate America these days. Businesses obviously want to advertise in spots thousands of us pass by every morning on the way to work.
American drivers have grown intimately familiar with the stodgy, monochrome signposts that announce travel distances to towns up ahead on the road. Our taxes pay for these signs while farmers sell billboard space on the other side of the ditch. Selling ad space on mileage signs would help offset the cost of their purchase and maintenance. Drivers benefit from the travel information. Businesses benefit from the exposure. And taxpayers from across the state benefit as well. They no longer need to finance the upkeep of signs they never see.
If governments operated more like private entities, we would also sell naming rights to bridges and freeways. Why not call it the Poulon ® Weedwacker Bay Bridge if it costs less to get across?
roads, taxes, public financing, bridges, streets, infrastructure, road repair, bridge repair
March 26th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
This is right here, in the present, not the future.