Whenever there is a traffic jam, the following discussion is always heard:
"Why is it so crowded and yet so expensive? Lower the price."
There are categories such as:
Certainly, I can understand the sentiment behind this, but if we think for a moment about why highways are congested, we can see that this argument is twisted.
Expressways are crowded because everyone wants to use them. Because they think they're getting a good deal even after paying a high price. Traffic jams are, so to speak, a rush of people trying to get "good things at low prices."
However, no matter how good a product is, if it is too expensive, it cannot be bought. For ordinary products, the price becomes high in this way, the demand shrinks, and supply and demand are balanced. For products that do not meet this requirement, people say, "This product is a great deal at this price," and people line up to buy it.
Yes, the highways are congested because the tolls are too low for the service they provide.
To alleviate traffic congestion
If we only look at congestion on expressways, the answer is to raise the tolls to ease congestion. In fact, even during Golden Week, if the tolls for expressways were to reach hundreds of thousands of yen, the number of people using them would drop dramatically, and people would be able to drive smoothly. Of course, the roads below would become even more crowded.
This should not be called preferential treatment for the rich. Balancing supply and demand by raising and lowering prices is the essence of a free economy. A planned economy does not allow this, and it would end up like the Soviet Union, where queues become a daily occurrence. If you ask me which I would choose, I would choose a free economy.
On the other hand, no matter how crowded an expressway is, there are times when it is empty. Some people say that it is an expressway and that charging tolls is unavoidable, but I don't think so. I think it is unreasonable to charge a high price even in such cases. This is because demand is lower than supply. As long as demand is lower than supply, the price should be zero.
The long-term perspective
Now, the above was a short-term perspective. In the short term, we can't build roads or other means of transportation, so we have no choice but to adjust prices. But in the long term, it's different.
If prices are high and profits are made, in the long run, entry into that industry will occur. Supply will increase. However, since roads and other areas are difficult for private companies to enter, if left alone, supply will not increase and move in an efficient direction, as it does in other industries under free competition. This is why the government intervenes. In the long run, the government must supply roads or alternative means of transportation in areas with congestion. How much should be supplied is a field of public economics called the theory of optimal supply of public goods, so I won't go into that here, but for example, the book "Super Reorganization Method" by Professor Noguchi Yukio may be useful.
So, conclusion
The toll fees for expressways should be linked to the level of congestion, increasing when the roads become congested and decreasing when the roads become less congested, so that the level of congestion remains constant.
With this method, areas that are always crowded should make a considerable profit, so those profits should be pooled and used to expand transportation.
It doesn't seem like a bad idea, what do you think?