In 1995, the Dulles Greenway, the first privately financed toll road built in over a century, opened in Northern Virginia. Investors believed they could profit from the commonwealth’s failure to build a highway between Dulles International Airport and Leesburg in fast-growing Loudoun County. But the Greenway’s backers overestimated demand and the amount of tolls drivers were willing to pay, and it has been losing money ever since. Equity investors lost all their money, estimated at $1 billion, and the Greenway’s value has plummeted by two-thirds.

After it went bankrupt, the toll road was subsequently purchased by Macquarie, an Australian consortium. According to Peter Samuel of TollRoadsnews.com, Greenway traffic was up slightly last year despite an 8 percent toll hike, but still running 23 percent below its 2005 peak.