Winston Churchill, a century ago:
Some years ago in London there was a toll bar on a bridge across the Thames, and all the working people who lived on the south side of the river had to pay a daily toll of one penny for going and returning from their work.
The spectacle of these poor people thus mulcted [?] of so large a proportion of their earnings offended the public conscience, and agitation was set on foot, municipal authorities were roused, and at the cost of the taxpayers, the bridge was freed and the toll removed.
All those people who used the bridge were saved sixpence a week, but within a very short time rents on the south side of the river were found to have risen about sixpence a week, or the amount of the toll which had been remitted!
Emailed in by Chrome Man, Boris Johnson a month ago:
"Each time a station is rezoned it results in a loss of revenue. In the case of Woolwich alone it would cost more than £1 million per year, a figure that would only increase with the introduction of Crossrail.
“In the case of Stratford [which was rezoned, which means people traveling from that station pay lower fares], I took a decision to absorb this revenue loss as another one of my agencies, the LLDC, is one of the principal beneficiaries of the change in policy and is likely to see an uplift to its land values.”
Debate Magazine
