Trying out congestion pricing makes sense because it simultaneously gives commuting drivers both a carrot and a stick for either switching to public transit or working flextime hours. Both alternatives would reduce the steadily worsening gridlock on Bay Area roadways during rush hours, and The Examiner strongly supports testing congestion pricing locally soon.

Two separate Golden Gate Bridge toll increases that could cost drivers $7 to cross into San Francisco are in the works — and another talked-about toll could boost the total cost to $8, warned transportation officials.

The Golden Gate Bridge toll could climb to as much as $7 by next year — nearly twice as much as the seven other Bay Area bridges.

Drivers could be paying as much as $7 to cross the Golden Gate Bridge if officials approve a new toll plan designed to cut down on traffic during peak hours.

When and how much? Those two aspects of the Golden Gate Bridge variable-toll pricing plan could become clearer after a committee meeting today.

When a freeway shares the surface streets of a residential neighborhood, expect problems. On 19th Avenue, those problems include five fatalities in 2007. Between 2000 and 2005, there were 1,205 injuries and 12 deaths — because 19th Avenue is also seven miles of state Highway 1 connecting San Mateo and Marin counties via western San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. Most fatalities were pedestrians hit while crossing the wide and confusingly marked thoroughfare.

Working suicide patrol on the towering Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Leif Cardwell rolled up to find the 58-year-old woman with one leg already draped over the short concrete barrier wall. The license plate on the Ford minivan she drove there said: "HPPY NOW."

A leather jacket, a ring and an investigator’s curiosity may have solved a cold case of a Daly City man missing for 16 years.

Tourism officials are sending showgirls on a glitz blitz to Seattle and four other U.S. cities this week, hoping to draw attention and visitors to Las Vegas.

While San Francisco is often seen as a bikeable, walkable city, very few students ride bicycles or walk to school, according to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. The City’s Department of Public Health is hoping a $500,000 grant will change that.

The grant, from the federal Safe Routes to School programs, would provide funding for infrastructure and education that would make it easier for students to walk and bicycle to school. Leaders said they hope to roll out Safe Routes programs at five local schools in the fall and at another 10 next fall.