Plus, receive recommendations and exclusive offers on all of your favorite books and authors from Simon & Schuster.
Street Smart
Competition, Entrepreneurship, and the Future of Roads
Edited by Gabriel Roth / Foreword by Mary E. Peters
Published by Independent Institute
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
LIST PRICE $24.95
PRICE MAY VARY BY RETAILER
Free shipping when you spend $40. Terms apply.
Buy from Other Retailers
Table of Contents
About the Book
Effective road transportation is crucial to economic and social well-being. Yet, in cities and rural areas worldwide, road systems suffer from traffic congestion, unsafe conditions, high costs, political corruption, waste and pork, environmental degradation, and poor maintenance.
Street Smart examines private, market-based alternatives for road services, in both theory and practice. The book explores at least four such possible directions for private services, including testing and licensing vehicles and drivers; management of government-owned road facilities; franchising; and outright private ownership. The book examines contemporary examples of entrepreneurial innovation in road pricing, commercialization, and privatization in environments as diverse as California, China, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Although political classes everywhere are reluctant to give up their lucrative sources of power and wealth, the main obstacle to the private provision of roads is public ignorance. Street Smart now traces the history of the private provision of roads under the incredibly difficult conditions prevailing before the railway age, and shows how modern road-management and pricing technologies can enable the interactions of consumers and suppliers in free markets to provide truly responsive road services.
Street Smart examines private, market-based alternatives for road services, in both theory and practice. The book explores at least four such possible directions for private services, including testing and licensing vehicles and drivers; management of government-owned road facilities; franchising; and outright private ownership. The book examines contemporary examples of entrepreneurial innovation in road pricing, commercialization, and privatization in environments as diverse as California, China, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Although political classes everywhere are reluctant to give up their lucrative sources of power and wealth, the main obstacle to the private provision of roads is public ignorance. Street Smart now traces the history of the private provision of roads under the incredibly difficult conditions prevailing before the railway age, and shows how modern road-management and pricing technologies can enable the interactions of consumers and suppliers in free markets to provide truly responsive road services.
Product Details
- Publisher: Independent Institute (November 3, 2026)
- Length: 564 pages
- ISBN13: 9781598134520
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
"Every public official—whatever their views—needs to read Street Smart to understand the depth of what is becoming a revolution."
– Roger Toleman, Deputy Secretary, New Zealand Ministry of Transport
"Street Smart provides a clear-cut and comprehensive investigation of the prospect of either replacing or supplementing our present road system by private, market-based roads."
– Gordon Tullock, Professor of Law and Economics, George Mason University
"Street Smart is a fascinating and challenging book which offers original and refreshing contributions on rational market opportunities for the transport sector."
– Peter Nijkamp, Professor in Regional Economics and in Economic Geography, Free University, Amsterdam
"Although, as a socialist, I find it difficult to accept that roads should be privatized, as a transport professional I believe that Street Smart is essential reading for those of us struggling with the problems of efficient transportation."
– Dave Wetzel, Vice Chair, Transport for London
"Street Smart should help to develop thinking on the future of the road network and should be welcomed by road users in all countries."
– Edmund King, Executive Director, Royal Automobile Club Foundation
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
-
Book Cover Image (jpg): Street Smart
Trade Paperback 9781598134520
