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> In Europe we also still have a few toll bridges and tunnels, as well as many toll roads (for instance: in Poland and France). Most of these, but not all, are
by jorvi 3y ago
> In Europe we also still have a few toll bridges and tunnels, as well as many toll roads (for instance: in Poland and France). Most of these, but not all, are in the hands of various governments. I can't wait until this particular form of highway robbery disappears.
Uhm, what?
Toll roads are about as fair as it gets. The alternative is spreading the cost over all (national) drivers.
I hate toll roads too when I encounter them, but making non-users pick up the tab for users is the actual highway robbery.
- vetinari 3y agoThere is also a middle ground: vignettes. Basically, only a car with a valid vignette can get on such a road, but unlike tolls, the fee is not per-trip, but valid for some time period (week, two, month, year). So in the result, only those who use (or intend to use) the toll road pay, but without the toll booths that slow everything down. The price also happens to be more reasonable.
- hgomersall 3y agoI don't think toll booths are necessary anymore. Certainly the Dartford crossing doesn't use them.
- taway_6PplYu5 3y agoHow do you define "users"? Say something you ordered or bought in a store was shipped along that road, did you "use" it? If one of the employees of that company had to use that road to get to work, did you "use" it? one of their family members, without whose job they wouldn't have theirs? Should the owner of a toll road have to pay money back to subsidize the costs of the roads which give access to their toll road? Vehicles need to be able to get on/off the road before tolls can be collected. Or, if we apply your logic, then it is impossible for people to live in rural areas, because the cost of the roads is more than the local economy can bear. Road networks are an infrastructure investment. Since they are networks, the value comes from the entire network. What is the value of a road with no on or off ramps? Because the value is so diffisive over both space and time, the only effective way to account for and recoup the cost is through a mechanism that can take a share of the economic growth resulting from the network. i.e. taxes.
- Symbiote 3y agoEverything you write also applies to railways, but in most of the world there are taxes to pay for all/part of their construction and maintenance, and use fees to pay for all/part of each journey made. In some countries, the majority of motorways are toll roads: https://about-france.com/geo/motorways.htm https://about-france.com/geo/motorways.htm