Governor Jon Corzine (D-NJ) is considering leasing the New Jersey Turnpike to a private company to generate revenue and get rid of the state?s debt.

However, leasing a highway to a private company is not something new. News 12 New Jersey?s I-Team headed to South Bend, Indiana where the Indiana Toll Road was leased to a private company for almost $4 billion last year.

Indiana leased its largest toll road to a foreign company based in Australia and Spain. The contract was for 75 years and the state was paid a lump sum of $3.8 billion up front.

?Without a penny of new taxes or a penny of new borrowing, we have a transportation plan ? roads, airport and probably some mass transit too ? for the next 10 years,? said Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN).

Indiana?s Budget Director Chuck Schalliol says leasing the road was a win-win situation. He says the state gets money and the drivers get a better highway.

While many state officials are pleased with the deal, some drivers say they are not happy with it. Some drivers say since the private company took over, maintenance on the road has gotten worse. Others say the deal was a financial blunder, since the state got the money up front, but the private company can raise tolls each year by the rate of inflation. Some fear with the 75-year lease, those tolls could generate up to $100 billion in profits for the company.

Officials with the toll road company say they will only raise tolls to cover expenses and they won?t take advantage of drivers. ?It serves the company no purpose to drive tolls to the point where people don?t wish to drive on our road. There are always alternatives. Our competition is free,? said Matt Pierce of the Indiana Toll Road company.

After leasing the road, Indiana was under the microscope to see how its toll road workers were treated. While no one was laid off or took a pay cut, some were offered different state jobs.

Some wonder what the possible lease could mean for New Jersey. The proposal from Senator Ray Lesniak (D-District 20) would protect Turnpike workers? jobs for six years. It would also limit toll increases to the rate of inflation.

Some against the proposal say it won?t work as well as Indiana?s situation because the Indiana Toll Road is lightly traveled and has been losing money for years. The Turnpike is one of the most heavily traveled road in the country and has been making money.

Click here for Part I of this I-Team Investigation.