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A toll road, also known as a tollway, turnpike, pike or tollpike, is a road for which a driver pays a toll (that is, a fee) for use. Similarly there are toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically gasoline tax or general tax funds. Tolls have been placed on roads at various times in history, often to generate funds for repayment of toll revenue bonds used to finance constructions and/or operation. The building or facility where a toll is collected may be called a toll booth, toll plaza, toll station, or toll gate.
Two variations of toll roads exist: barrier (mainline) toll plazas and entry/exit tolls. On a mainline toll system, all vehicles stop at various locations along the highway to pay a toll. While this may save money from the lack of need to construct tolls at every exit, it can cause lots of traffic congestion, and drivers could evade tolls by going around them as the exits do not have them. With entry/exit tolls, vehicles collect a ticket when entering the highway, which displays the fares it will pay when it exits, increasing in cost for distance traveled. Upon exit, the driver will pay the amount listed for the given exit. Should the ticket indicate a traveling violation or be lost, the driver would typically pay the maximum amount possible for travel on that highway. A variant of the entry/exit toll system exists where mainline barriers are present at the two endpoints of the toll road and each interchange has a ramp toll that is paid upon exit or entry. In this case a motorist would pay a flat fee at the ramp toll and another flat fee at the end of the toll road, thus no ticket is necessary. Modern toll roads often use a combination of the two, with various entry and exit tolls supplemented by occasional mainline tolls.



