Tolls on roads or tolls on fire?

I was looking the other day at these pictures that were circulating the Internet and at the same day I read about the toll price hike on Brisbane's toll roads.

Source

Apparently it seems that the pictures are taken back in July 2013 when protesters in SP-332 Highway, Sao Paolo, Brazil set 8 toll booths on fire. The protests are ongoing, in several Brazilian cities, initiated mainly by the Movimento Passe Livre (Free Fare Movement), a local entity that advocates for free public transportation. The demonstrations started as a move against increases in bus, train, and metro ticket prices in some Brazilian cities, but soon included other issues such as the high corruption in the government and police brutality used against some demonstrators.

The same happened recently in Maharashtra, India, where protesters against  toll roads vandalised booths in Kolhapur. In the center of their protests were the cost of everyday transport and the political nexus between the ruling parties and contractors.

Source: The Hindu

That of course reminded me of all the problems with the economic crisis back in Greece. A similar protest movement named "I don't pay" ("Δεν πληρώνω") was initiated at 2008, even before the big crisis hit Greece as a protest mainly for paying tolls in the extremely unsafe Athens - Patra highway. Soon with the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund) demanding more public revenue from almost every aspect of life in Greece, toll booths start appearing every 20-30 kms in existing and similarly bad condition roads, with toll prices rising almost every 6 months.

Historically toll roads started becoming a problem in Greece, when the Greek government decided to package maintenance works in sections of the highway network with the existing toll plazas and contract it out to the private sector. In order to make it more attractive, the contracts allowed for more toll booth locations and regular raises in prices. Soon the situation got out of control and the cost of travel for those toll roads went through the roof. When the "I don't pay" movement started and for a long period after that, a significant percentage of drivers were getting off the car, raising the boom gates and passing through the tolls without pay. The fact that the Greek legislation has not been adapted to this new regime and the cost of individual prosecutions made it even easier to avoid paying tolls.

Now some years later, the Greek legislation has changed to include privately run tolls and police have targeted toll evasion, so this practice has mostly phased out. But the cost of tolls is still ridiculously high and drivers just avoid the toll roads, or even worst the sections of those highways with tolls. Lots of different maps have appeared on webpages and facebook pages with detailed directions on how you can travel from Athens to Thessaloniki without paying the tolls. Of course this wasn't particularly difficult as even Google Maps has a tool where you can get directions between two places by avoiding tolls.

A few days ago there was again a series of demonstrations near Athens where people from a nearby village that their free access to the majority of the road network including the road to Athens was removed, protested and set the toll booths on fire. Police made many arrests, including the Mayor of the regional council.

Of course  highway traffic between the two biggest cities in the country, diverting through small villages and rural areas, is not only a highly unsafe practice from a road safety perspective but also highly uneconomical with lost hours and reduced productivity that sums up every day. It is also a bad use of road infrastructure with road wear shifting towards local government controlled and funded minor roads.

Unfortunately the extreme neoliberal policies of Troika are only concerned with the fiscal side of the economy, mainly the deficit and don't care about other aspects like unemployment, economic growth or even debt to GDP ratio let alone aspects of life like road safety.

Unlike Greece that is no longer a sovereign state anymore, in New Orleans, USA people in a referendum held on May 4, 2013 defeated the toll extension and officially ended tolls on the Crescent City Connection. The referendum was defeated by an overwhelming 78 percent of voters.

The discussion for road pricing has been going on for quite a while. Trying to find a fair pricing system is a matter of extensive research and work throughout the world. Cities like Singapore or Oslo have opted for congestion pricing.

Others like Brisbane, have opted for tolling new infrastructure like the ClemJones or Airport link tunnels while always providing a toll free alternative.

One thing is quite certain though: Road access can't be treated as another consumer product. Freedom of movement is a fundamental human right and road pricing should always include a free alternative. Excessive toll prices would eventually affect other aspects of life and the cost paid might be a lot higher than the toll revenue.