This is pathetic.
ARLINGTON, Va (Reuters) - Driving through Virginia? You could soon be making a pit stop at the Geico Travel Plaza.
The commonwealth is selling naming rights to its 42 rest stops and welcome centers to help defray the $20 million annual operating and maintenance costs.
"By partnering with the private sector, we will save taxpayer dollars and keep our rest areas and welcome centers open," Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican, said in a statement this week. [...]
State officials are working with the Federal Highway Administration to not run afoul of federal rules that block commercial enterprises on federally funded roadways. [...]
Florida lawmakers are weighing whether to offer naming rights for any state-owned transportation property, from highways to parks.
Wow. We can't afford the $20 million dollars needed to fully fund and operate rest areas so we have to sell the naming rights? I guess we better hand out another tax cut to the same corporations that are going to purchase the naming rights.
The last time I did serious road travel, I came across a rest area that had a water reclamation system for using rain-water, and it had solar panels outside and on the roof. After leaving I found myself asking why we don't build them that way everywhere.