Up until the late 1980s or so, there were tolls on I-95 south of Washington. They existed between Richmond and Petersburg, VA and also in Jacksonville, FL. Furthermore, for many years the section of I-95 between Fort Pierce and Palm Beach Gardens, FL was unbuilt, and the most convenient alternate route was the Florida Turnpike (a toll road).
As for the tolls north of DC, they were grandfathered in, as they pre-date the interstate system.
Personally, I don’t have heartburn over having tolls at major bridges and tunnels, as these facilities are vastly more expensive to build and maintain than are regular surface roads. Thus, I’m OK with the I-95 tolls under the Baltimore Harbor (MD), over the Delaware River (DE-NJ), and over the Hudson River (NJ-NY). The bridge over the Susquehanna River (MD) is a gray area, IMO. But the rest of the tolls ought to go.
Gawd, I forgot about the Richmond tolls. Ugh. Could they tie up traffic. Nearly as bad as the Garden State tolls that were placed about every quarter mile. At least today’s tolls are almost all electronic and don’t impede the flow of traffic.
I just tend to stay off the roads during rush hour. I have no business as a retiree being on the roads, congesting them for folks who are still commuting to jobs without alternatives. Of course today a big part of the workforce “telecommutes,” which is great, especially in an area like DC. I also don’t do my shopping on weekends when those same folks have limited time to get their marketing done.