“How is this different from a company that gets long term control of a large section of interstate highway?”
If you don’t paying 35 cents or so per mile to drive on their monopolized highways, you always have the option of walking (unless they choose to charge pedestrians too, of course). That’s your ‘free market’ ‘competition’.
LOL.
If you don’t want to drive on the tolled part of I-635, you can ride in the free lanes. Walking is not required.
There’s your counterbalance. You can go slow on the congested free lanes or you can pay to drive on the higher speed, better paved toll lanes. Toll company gets uppity, people have an alternative and it’s on the same route.