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Jan 30, 2009 4:25 PM

Congestion pricing and highway privatization add unnecessary costs to the economy and do not solve budget problems, said Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

Graves made the comment in discussing infrastructure spending in his latest entry on the National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog.

While few would argue with the idea that an investment in infrastructure must be made to reduce traffic congestion and pollution, Graves warns that funding schemes like congestion pricing and privatization do not provide long-term solutions, as seen by their lack of success in Europe and Asia.

“Adding capacity with new infrastructure funded by fuel taxes is the best solution,” he said.

See Graves' comments online at transportation.nationaljournal.com.