the.com/tollway
A highway that charges rent for the privilege of sitting in its traffic.
means A highway or expressway where drivers pay a toll to use the road, usually collected at booths or electronically.
from A straightforward compound of 'toll' — from Old English 'toll/toln,' meaning a tax or payment for a service, itself borrowed from a Late Latin word for a tax collector's cut — and 'way,' meaning road or path. The word simply announces its business: a way you pay to use. American English leaned into 'tollway' in the 20th century as superhighways spread and states needed a tidy label for roads funded by driver fees rather than general taxes.
- origin
- toll roads predate cars by centuries
- economics
- funds roads without raising general taxes
- irony
- you still pay during the gridlock
- tech shift
- transponders replaced coin baskets almost everywhere