With all due respect, Roger, everything is about market forces. The answer to the roads/public transit question is simple. Eliminate external costs. Fuel taxes should be set at levels where the taxes fully support infrastructure costs. Fuel taxes do create a huge amount of revenue for the public road and bridge infrastructure... and, in fact, in some states (like Maryland) the transportation trust fund is routinely raided by the legislature to pay for nontransportation line items.
If the cost at fuel at the pump reflected the real cost of driving, then the market would function far better. As for public transit, it is far more efficient to simply give the poor money than to build elaborate transportation systems. If ridership cannot support a form of transportation, it should not exist. Again, Roger, the government is not smarter than markets. It is not now nor will it ever be. Once government takes decision making power out of the hands of individuals and invests it in bureaucrats, urban planners, transit manager, etc., individuals are denied the fundamental economic freedom of choice... these same individuals are forced to pay for these decisions via taxation.
The goal for a market economy should be efficient markets. Capturing external costs is a critical component of this. If done correctly, this can still allow individuals to make choices... rather than coercing them into the behavior you think is better for society as a whole. If you want to use the Salem Witch Trail analogy, Roger, for me riding a public transit bus is not unlike burning at the stake. I imagine Lazarus Long might feel the same way.
