Or maybe it's simpler to just say paid and they did that. I'd wager that they're well aware of push-back over fee increases but still do it anyway, because monopoly. And the roads need the money.
On that note, the real fun is going to be about how do we pay for the roads once the majority of traffic is not pay fuel tax...
If the intent was to get us paying without realizing, they'd add additional incentives (like discounts) to getting the transponder than the fact that its simply (and obviously) faster.
You're constructing this straw man where the price at the register is murky and ill-defined, and if only we could remove the smoke screen, people would see how much money they're losing to taxes. But the reality is that anti-tax folks are the ones making it difficult to understand the price at the register, as it pertains to income taxes. There's quite the conversation to be had about the murkiness of appropriations, certainly. But adding friction to the tax return process doesn't make me want to call my congressman about where my taxes are going, but instead to ask why a senator in Wyoming or Texas is so excited to bend over backwards to protect the business interests of a company based in Mountain View, California, at the expense of all of their constituents?!
You just proved my point without even realizing it.
When you were forced to pay cash, they were forced to show you the price. You even remember the amount now, presumably years later. If they could have you pay cash without seeing the price I’m sure they would. If the price had changed from week to week, you’d immediately realize it because the amounts you’d interact with would change.
But that’s only possible with a purely digital system. As all the numbers happen behind the scenes.
Ask yourself this, why don’t any of those automated toll booths show the amount you “auto paid” rather than just “Ok!” Or “Paid!”? It’s because they explicitly do not want people to know what they are paying so they can raise the rates with minimal flak.