What ideal, exactly? A fair (re-)distribution of utility? How about "free" school lunches? Progressive income taxes come close, though ideally they'd have mor

What ideal, exactly? A fair (re-)distribution of utility? How about "free" school lunches? Progressive income taxes come close, though ideally they'd have more brackets with higher rates and the brackets would be graduated by both wealth and income. The "gas guzzler" tax in California seems pretty fair to me, as does the "polluter pays" principle in general. Specifically traffic-related: I like how California does HOV/FasTrak lanes. There is a separate lane (or even a separate segregated roadway) with free access for "high occupancy vehicles" (2+ occupants, rarely 3+). However, individual commuters can pay (with FasTrak) for access to the lane. The cost is set dynamically depending on traffic conditions; it's a realtime market for spare capacity unused by actual HOVs. (It could still be improved, though, with an AGI coefficient, but I digress). Anyway, the most important part is there are always cost-free freeway lanes available; there's always an option just to sit and wait without additional payment.