Many commentators passionately argue that traveling is a right, that roads are public goods, and that tolling or pricing limit that right and turn roads into private goods allocated only by the market. To be sure, traveling is a public good, but it is not a free one; it requires that individuals pay at least a portion of the costs associated with their travel, whether it is in transit fares, gas taxes, or other fees. Tolling to pay for new road capacity, improvements, or maintenance can certainly reduce some citizens' access to that capacity, whereas increasing motor fuel taxes to pay for that capacity may have an impact on overall travel but not on use of specific facilities. However, some steps could be taken to ensure that mobility is available for all users, such as setting different prices on different lanes of a facility.
A related concern with pricing (both targeted and comprehensive) is that it could become a means of rationing use of roads-reducing congestion but ignoring signals that more supply is needed. But prices should ideally be set at the cost imposed by the additional driver, not at levels to drive large numbers of travelers off the system. Moreover, if a significant portion of revenues are reinvested in expanded highway and transit capacity (a critical component of a fair pricing approach), mobility should ultimately improve.