Toll roads are spreading in America

Who Should Pay for Roads? Taxes vs Tolls

• One camp argues “pay at point of use” is fairest: drivers, especially heavy users, should fund roads directly via tolls or per‑mile/per‑weight charges rather than broad income taxes.
• Others say roads underpin all economic activity, so they should be funded from progressive general taxation, not user fees.

Equity and Regressive Impacts

• Many call tolls a regressive tax: flat per‑trip fees bite much harder for low‑income commuters, who often have the least flexibility in where they live and work.
• Supporters counter that regressiveness can be offset by rebates, UBI‑style dividends, or using toll revenue to improve transit and reduce other regressive taxes.
• There’s concern that premium lanes produce “two‑tier” infrastructure: rich drivers buy speed while poorer drivers sit in worse traffic.

Economics of Road Wear and Vehicle Types

• Multiple comments note that road damage scales roughly with the fourth power of axle load, so trucks and buses cause orders of magnitude more wear than cars or bikes.
• Some advocate truck‑only tolls or strongly weight‑tiered fees; others worry about large pass‑through cost increases on goods.
• Gas taxes are seen as inadequate and eroded by inflation, efficiency, and EVs; ideas include odometer/weight fees and tire‑based taxes, with debate over fairness to EV owners.

Design of HOT/HOV and Congestion Pricing

• Economists and some drivers favor dynamically priced HOT lanes and congestion pricing to keep traffic flowing near the speed limit and internalize congestion costs.
• Many Bay Area and Texas users describe HOV/HOT lanes as poorly enforced, widely cheated, and socially corrosive for rule‑followers.
• Critics say using existing lanes for toll/HOT converts public capacity into paywalled capacity; others reply that total throughput can rise and emergency access improves.

Privatization, Governance, and “Temporary” Tolls

• Strong distrust of public–private toll concessions: claims of guaranteed returns, rising tolls, weak maintenance, and state bailouts when projects fail.
• Several note that many roads were sold or leased after being built with public money; “temporary” tolls rarely end.
• Some argue even public toll agencies become growth‑oriented cash cows, and money is fungible so toll revenue often just backfills general budgets.

Urban Form, Transit, and Induced Demand

• Urbanists emphasize induced demand and the Lewis–Mogridge effect: new lanes fill up; only pricing and better alternatives really cut congestion.
• Others stress that adding lanes still increases freight/person throughput and that US land use and culture make high‑quality transit difficult outside a few metros.
• Ongoing tension between visions: dense, transit‑oriented, walkable cities vs spacious, car‑dependent suburbs; each side accuses the other of ignoring preferences or externalities.

Technology, Surveillance, and Evasion

• The shift to transponders and ALPR makes tolling far cheaper and more scalable but raises surveillance concerns about ubiquitous tracking of movement.
• Some discuss widespread plate‑obscuring (including by police), fake plates, and hitch balls or trailers blocking plates; enforcement is uneven.

International and Regional Examples

• Commenters cite Norway, Germany, the UK, and especially Sydney as cautionary tales or models: heavy reliance on tolls, private operators, and sophisticated electronic systems.
• Within the US, experiences vary: Florida, Texas, Chicago, and the Northeast are cited as heavily tolled; much of the country still has few toll roads.

Proposed Compromises

• Ideas include: dynamic congestion pricing earmarked for transit, truck‑focused tolling, income‑scaled fines and rebates, per‑mile/weight fees, or even universal tolls with equal per‑resident dividends.
• Underlying divide remains: whether roads should behave like priced, scarcity‑managed infrastructure or like universal, tax‑funded public services.