The “stimulus” legislation just signed into law by President Obama includes billions of dollars for transportation and infrastructure, with little regard as to whether the projects meet any serious national or regional need other than supposedly creating or “saving” jobs.

Like other goods and services in a market economy, transportation and infrastructure projects should respond to the public’s willingness to pay, not to politicians’ eagerness to spend. If the Obama administration really wants “change,” as it claims, it should change the way transportation projects are selected and financed, emphasizing market-based approaches. A good place to start would be with the $27.5 billion the stimulus bill proposes spending on highway, bridge and road projects.

If Washington insists on spending more on highways, it should at least spend it intelligently, rather than throwing it willy-nilly at projects politicians have declared “shovel-ready.”

An example of smart spending would be urban networks of “high-occupancy or toll” (HOT) expressways that accomplish specific objectives, such as increasing accessibility and reducing congestion and air pollution.