the bell tolls

People are willing to adopt the "pay-as-you-go" model for all kinds of services and infrastructure, from the telephone to parking lots. But for using roads? Political opposition to road tolls is strong in many countries, but commentators are starting to think that a begrudging acceptance of congestion pricing in some quarters may indicate acceptance - finally - that it's futile to try to keep building our way out of gridlock.

Washington has allocated funds to help states and cities develop congestion pricing systems, and may even apply the same concept to airlines: charge users more to travel in congested corridors, encouraging them to change their route or time of travel.