Republican Lt. Governor candidate Ron Nehring on Thursday called for changes to how the state manages its freeways and highways.
“High overhead costs, state rules that needlessly drive up costs and lack of competition have left Californians with poor quality highways despite paying the nation’s second highest gas taxes,” Nehring said.
“Claims that the state is on a comeback while its citizens continue navigating some of the nation’s worst roads just aren’t credible.”
Nehring specifically called for:
— an increase in the role of the private sector to use competition to drive down costs for design, engineering, maintenance, and standards following the “managed competition” model adopted by San Diego;
— a shift in traffic enforcement to focus on safety instead of revenue generation for government;
— a review of the education and training required prior to the issuance of a California driver’s license;
— repealing rules applying “cap and trade” regulations to
transportation fuels to avoid the expected increase in fuel prices coming Jan. 1;
— and changing work and contracting rules to allow projects to be completed quicker and at lower costs.
Nehring’s call comes one week after the Reason Foundation issued its 21st annual Highway Report which ranked California 45th among the 50 states on the overall condition and cost-effectiveness of its highways.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Nehring’s Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.
