“On the face of it, drivers who don’t use the toll road are behaving “irrationally””
I’ve come to the conclusion that (up to a point) people don’t actually mind being in cars. You’ve got privacy, you’ve got the radio, you’ve got aircon. You’re sitting down. You don’t have to do anything more physically or mentally difficult than turning the wheel occasionally and pressing a few pedals. No-one and nothing is bothering you as much as if you were at work (or at home, for some people).
Tolls come out of after tax salary. The average wage might be $28/hour, but the median wage is less than that. How much time can you save in 6.7km? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? If you could pay $2.50 to save 10 minutes, that’s still the equivalent of paying $15 per hour to avoid an activity that most people find, if not pleasant, than far more pleasant than (say) being at work. And if you’re a worker on the average wage paying $2.50 to save 5 minutes, then I’d suggest you’re possibly the one being irrational.
