The High Cost of Free Riders

Whenever the prospect of funding our transit system with bridge tolls or congestion pricing arises, you can count on a hue and cry from aggrieved motorists about subsidizing other people's commutes. But if the bridges stay free, who's really paying for somebody else's ride? Today's Times story about the last phase of Manhattan Bridge reconstruction is a welcome reminder that the city's bridges are already costly:

As long as there's no price on these bridges, we all pay for those free rides.