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Right. "Free" triggers a host of bugs in the human cost estimation system. Put a price on something and we can start to approach it more rationally and make the necessary trade-offs. I suspect funding for transit would increase if the tolls needed to keep city streets at a free-flow traffic level were immediately apparent.

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As a counter argument , forcing people to factor in the cost of a toll as a factor in making an a given trio could just as easily lead to sub-optimal underutilization of what has historically (in the US anyway) a public good.

People are no more rational about making small purchases than they are about providing the necessary funds through taxation.

I suspect most people intuitively grasp that having freely accessible public roadways is well worth the cost.

Yeah, tolls don't seem to cause under-utilization for bridges (the ones I know are still bumper to bumper at rush hour), unless you mean relative to free routes in the same area that probably should be tolled but aren't.

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