Editing Toll road (section)

===20th century===
In the 20th century, road tolls were introduced in Europe to finance the construction of motorway networks and specific transport infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels. 
[[File:Milano, Autostrada Milano-Laghi, casello 01.jpg|thumb|right|Toll gate of the ''[[Autostrada dei Laghi]]'' ("Lakes Motorway"), the first [[motorway]] built in the world,<ref name="independent"/><ref name="motorwebmuseum"/> in [[Milan]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], in 1924]]

Italy was the first country in the world to build [[motorway]]s reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only.<ref name=independent>{{Cite news |first=Thea |last=Lenarduzzi |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-worlds-first-motorway-piero-puricellis-masterpiece-is-the-focus-of-an-unlikely-pilgrimage-a6840816.html|title=The motorway that built Italy: Piero Puricelli's masterpiece|date=30 January 2016|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=12 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="motorwebmuseum">{{cite web|url=https://www.motorwebmuseum.it/en/places/varese/the-milano-laghi-by-piero-puricelli-the-first-motorway-in-the-world/|title=The "Milano-Laghi" by Piero Puricelli, the first motorway in the world|access-date=10 May 2022}}</ref> The ''[[Autostrada dei Laghi]]'' ("Lakes Motorway"), the first built in the world, connecting [[Milan]] to [[Lake Como]] and [[Lake Maggiore]], and now parts of the [[Autostrada A8 (Italy)|Autostrada A8]] and [[Autostrada A9 (Italy)|Autostrada A9]], was devised by [[Piero Puricelli]] and was inaugurated in 1924.<ref name="motorwebmuseum"/> Piero Puricelli, a civil engineer and entrepreneur, received the first authorization to build a public-utility fast road in 1921, and completed the construction (one lane in each direction) between 1924 and 1926. Piero Puricelli decided to cover the expenses by introducing a toll.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://local.aaca.org/bntc/mileposts/1924.htm |title = 1924 Mile Posts |access-date = 3 April 2006 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080312014538/http://local.aaca.org/bntc/mileposts/1924.htm|archive-date = 12 March 2008 }}</ref>

It was followed by Greece, which made users pay for the network of motorways around and between its cities in 1927. Later in the 1950s and 1960s, France, Spain, and Portugal started to build motorways largely with the aid of concessions, allowing rapid development of this infrastructure without massive state debts. Since then, road tolls have been introduced in the majority of the [[European Union|EU]] member states.<ref>Jordi, Philipp (2008): "Institutional Aspects of Directive 2004/52/EC on the Interoperability of Electronic Road Toll Systems in the Community." Europainstitut der Universität Basel.</ref>
[[File:America's Highways 1776–1976 - page 151.jpg|thumb|right|The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened as the first long-distance, controlled-access toll road in the United States in 1940]]

In the United States, prior to the introduction of the [[Interstate Highway System]] and the large federal grants supplied to states to build it, many states constructed their first [[controlled-access highway|freeways]] by floating [[Bond (finance)|bonds]] backed by toll revenues. The first major fully grade separated toll road was the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] in 1940. This was followed up by other toll roads, such as the [[Maine Turnpike]] in 1947, the  [[Blue Star Turnpike]] in 1950, the [[New Jersey Turnpike]] in 1951, the [[Garden State Parkway]] in 1952, the [[West Virginia Turnpike]] and [[New York State Thruway]] in 1954, the [[Massachusetts Turnpike]] in 1957, and the [[Chicago Skyway]] and [[Indiana Toll Road]] in 1958. Other toll roads were also established around this time. With the establishment of the Interstate Highway System in the late 1950s, toll road construction in the U.S. slowed down considerably, as the federal government now provided the bulk of funding to construct new freeways, and regulations required that such Interstate highways be free from tolls. Many older toll roads were added to the Interstate System under a [[grandfather clause]] that allowed tolls to continue to be collected on toll roads that predated the system. Some of these such as the [[Connecticut Turnpike]] and the [[Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike]] later removed their tolls when the initial bonds were paid off. Many states, however, have maintained the tolling of these roads as a consistent source of revenue.

As the Interstate Highway System approached completion during the 1980s, states began constructing toll roads again to provide new freeways which were not part of the original interstate system funding. [[Texas State Highway Beltway 8|Houston's outer beltway]] of interconnected toll roads began in 1983, and many states followed over the last two decades of the 20th century adding new toll roads, including the [[Central Florida Expressway Authority|tollway system around Orlando, Florida]], Colorado's [[E-470]], and [[Georgia State Route 400]].