'Value' is Meaningless

I had a bizarre conversation a few months ago with an ultra-libertarian (in the American sense). I was talking with him about how Taiwan’s Youbike system is subsidized by the government such that the first 30 minutes of each ride is free, which is enormously useful for the city insomuch as it reduces traffic, reduces emissions, and essentially solves the last-mile problem for the city. He didn’t like it. He didn’t think it was acceptable that car drivers “had to pay” for bike riders (through taxes). I pointed out that everyone in the city pays for, for example, roads that are only really for car drivers, which is good for us since e.g. delivery trucks use it, or generally speaking, a functional road system enables commerce. He said we could have that with private, pay to use roads. I asked, what about the obvious drawbacks of such a system, such as such a system reinforcing a wealth divide, since poor people won’t be able to afford to use the road as much and are thus restricted from…