Privatization FAIL: Firm that runs Indiana Toll Road files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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Monday September 22, 2014 · 12:58 PM PDT

2014/09/22 · 12:58

In 2006, Mitch Daniels, then the Republican Governor of Indiana, signed into law a "major moves" bill that, among other things, privatized the Indiana Toll Road, which carries Interstates 80 and 90 across the northern part of the state.

Eight years later, ITR Commission Co., the arm of a joint venture between a Spanish company and an Australian company that owns the Indiana Toll Road lease, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court:

The company that operates the Indiana Toll Road filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, though Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said in a statement Monday drivers of the route through northern Indiana can expect “business as usual.”
Debt-ridden ITR Commission Co., a spawn of the Spanish-Australian company Cintra-Macquarie, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago in a prepackaged plan to restructure its approximate $6 billion debt.

The company in 2006 paid $3.8 billion for a 75-year lease of the road that runs between the Illinois and Ohio state lines, but the toll revenue failed to meet company expectations.

This is a big reason why I'm opposed to toll roads, especially toll roads that are privatized by the government of the state in which they're located in and run by a private firm. If the toll road doesn't get enough money from people who pay tolls for using the road, then the toll road loses money and eventually goes bankrupt.

We need to rebuild our nation's infrastructure, not privatize it and let it go bankrupt.

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Privatization FAIL: Firm that runs Indiana Toll Road files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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