Question

1. Ninotchka and Leon are quarreling over a proposed plan by the government to put a demand-based toll on all the interstate highways in the state. Such a toll fluctuates according to the demand for the right to drive in dedicated, high-speed lanes. For instance, on a 4-lane interstate, those driving in the right lane face no toll but those wishing to drive in the left lane pay a toll which depends on the time of day and general demand to drive in that lane. Leon is against the proposal, citing the tolls as unfair—favoring those with money at the expense of the less well-off drivers. Ninotchka believes the tolls are entirely fair—if someone is willing to pay more to drive faster, why shouldn’t they?   

As they are your two best friends in the world, you are interested in ending their argument and propose a compromise: suppose the toll is put into effect but it also is capped at some reasonable amount. Wouldn’t that solve everything?

Based solely on the information given, who has the strongest economic argument for the efficient use of an interstate, Ninotchka, Leon, or you? Choose one person and support your claim in under ½ page.

Answer 1

leon here has the strongest arguement. the thing we have to remember that the government makes the roads using the public money which it generates via the taxes. the rich as well as the poor contributes towards the construction of such public infrastructure. so it would be entirely unfair if the government constructs a special lane for the rich drivers using the money of everyone including the poor. the poor or the lower economic section is contributing towards the construction of such things but they are not able to access it. hence it would be unfair on them. thus looking from a social benefit angle, it would be wiser if the government doesn't build such lanes.

however the thing to note is that such pay to drive models of roads do exist in the real world. a good example would be the Worli Sea Link bridge in mumbai, where he driver needs to pay some amount as the toll tax to access the bridge. this is in line with our arguement stating that a certain limit needs to be fixed