3 ms·

Tolls were once difficult to enforce — collection infrastructure was expensive and slowed down traffic. Modern technology offers new ways forward, at the price

Tolls were once difficult to enforce — collection infrastructure was expensive and slowed down traffic. Modern technology offers new ways forward, at the price of destroying privacy. Or you could just impose a gasoline tax as a proxy for travel (oh hey that's exactly what they did.)

lotsofpulp 7y ago
That works too, although if electric cars become mainstream, it would be an issue for the future.
vsareto 7y ago
It seems better to just tax something instead of setting up toll infrastructure
- lotsofpulp 7y ago
  A toll is a tax. Road usage isn’t equivalent, some roads are used more than others and at certain times. The goal would be to vary the tax based on demand, which is different for each road and time. This already happens in many places, especially with tunnels and bridges.
- fennecfoxen 7y ago
  It really depends. The free market is only efficient when transaction costs are low. For many forms of travel, the cost of monitoring such travel makes tracking far too expensive. Even just understanding a toll scheme has its own cost; you don't want to be too worried about misestimating the cost of every drive down to the grocery store. For long-distance interstate travel, however, toll roads make a lot of sense. This is particularly the case where trucks are involved. You charge proportionally to axle weight, so the companies doing the shipping pay for the damage they are doing to the roads. In other congested areas, tolls can serve as an effective form of rationing, particularly over bridges or through tunnels. This encourages more efficient resource usage, e.g. by making carpooling more worthwhile. This also makes more sense for city centers with congestion-charge fees. The alternative rationing scheme here, "sitting in traffic", is a very bad way to pay for things and imposes its own very high transaction costs.

lotsofpulp 7y ago

That works too, although if electric cars become mainstream, it would be an issue for the future.

vsareto 7y ago

It seems better to just tax something instead of setting up toll infrastructure

lotsofpulp 7y ago
A toll is a tax. Road usage isn’t equivalent, some roads are used more than others and at certain times. The goal would be to vary the tax based on demand, which is different for each road and time. This already happens in many places, especially with tunnels and bridges.
fennecfoxen 7y ago
It really depends. The free market is only efficient when transaction costs are low. For many forms of travel, the cost of monitoring such travel makes tracking far too expensive. Even just understanding a toll scheme has its own cost; you don't want to be too worried about misestimating the cost of every drive down to the grocery store. For long-distance interstate travel, however, toll roads make a lot of sense. This is particularly the case where trucks are involved. You charge proportionally to axle weight, so the companies doing the shipping pay for the damage they are doing to the roads. In other congested areas, tolls can serve as an effective form of rationing, particularly over bridges or through tunnels. This encourages more efficient resource usage, e.g. by making carpooling more worthwhile. This also makes more sense for city centers with congestion-charge fees. The alternative rationing scheme here, "sitting in traffic", is a very bad way to pay for things and imposes its own very high transaction costs.