Governments just don't get it...
The public pays income tax, we pay taxes to buy and use our cars, we pay fuel tax, we pay fees and charges for registration, etc, etc, etc...
So why the hell should we have to bloody well pay for the damn roads we drive on as well?? How much money is enough from a long suffering public?
I recall way back when one of the first toll roads in Queensland opened up...on the Sunshine Coast (Nicklin Way? Sunshine Motorway? Can't recall the name). The public, for the reasons I mentioned above, weren't happy at all about it. We were down there on holiday, and found ourselves on the motorway, and we didn't have any change...we were wondering how to pay the toll.
Then we remembered hearing about a protest campaign on the local radio station called "Follow the yellow ribbons", and we saw a light pole beside the motorway festooned with yellow ribbons, and a hand made sign saying "Follow the yellow ribbons". The next pole had a ribbon, as did the next, down an off-ramp, along a road, around a roundabout, then along a two lane bitumen road just beside the motorway near cane fields. We "followed the yellow ribbons" on every light pole and post, and drove right past the toll booths (which were practically empty of cars), and then came back up onto the motorway some distance further down the road. Brilliant!!
The government caved in, and the next time we visited, the toll booths were empty with no gates, and the next time we went a few months later, the only sign they'd ever been there was a wider spot in the highway and a concrete section of road.
The world didn't end, the road system didn't collapse, and civilisation continued...governments have to realise they just have to suck it up and
pay for facilities for the tax payer now and then.
People aren't stupid...