Plans are afoot to make part of the improvement of the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon a toll road. This video explored this in light of experience of toll roads in Spain and on the M6 in the Midlands.
Do they really work?
In the context of the M6 Toll and of autopistas in Spain which work on much the same model, the answer is no. Toll roads at the present pricing structure do not cream enough paying customers to make them economically worthwhile. As a result, congestion is only alleviated to an extent, not solved. The more expensive option of just providing new non-toll roads is more successful and can have a big impact on congestion with the environmental benefits that brings.
In some countries toll roads have a much better success level. There is a substantial mileage if peage autoroute in France and it's well used by all classes of traffic. It seems to work here for two reasons, firstly because the fuel and road tax structure is different and secondly, because there aren't any realistic alternatives to using them. Where the French Government wants to promote economic development, autoroutes are usually free such as the A16 along the Channel coast and the A75 through the Massif Central.
What sort of compromises need to be made?
To build any road, compromises need to be made. In Britain we have the irony of loving our cars but opposing road building in our back yard or favourite places. What gets built is a compromise and it's the conventional wisdom of our generation that gives us the compromise routes that we see today. In the sixties Motorway boom, roads like the A12 and A14 would have been motorways built to a high standards. However, economics, environmentalism and local opposition all contrived to make these roads the compromises that they are - with their congestion, poor safety record and poor quality construction. In the long run, could it all have been done better? We compromised, we made our choice and now undoing messes is going to cost money.
Does God compromise when we are faced with choices in life?
Our society is about compromise. Life is about compromise. That's I guess why many people find God unbending, inflexible. He has His standards and that's that. Most people realise thy can't reach them. We all hope that a loving God will somehow melt and ignore his standards. He doesn't.
BUT He is a loving God and decided to make sure we can reach Him, we can know Him and we can know eternal life. And that was through the death of Jesus on the cross, taking the punishment for our sin and wrongdoing. So God offers each person a relationship with Him and eternal life for free, as we understand this is the case and as we come accepting forgiveness and is gift of eternal life.
The Christian faith is an opt-in faith. God doesn't push it on people who don't want Him. But He gives it freely to all who will receive the gift and follow Jesus. Why not accept it today?