Beyond tolls and usage charges, we could extend our infrastructure funding approach to include value capture. This is the approach public and private developers for centuries have used to pay for their projects, from Augustus in Rome and Napoleon in Paris to the trading companies given land charters in the New World. It’s largely how Japan has funded its acclaimed high-speed rail system. Buy the land around the station at pre-development prices. Build the high-speed rail, which makes the land far more valuable. Sell the land at the new price and use the profits from the sale to pay for the
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