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Bay Area Transit Authority begins hearings on possible Bay Area bridge toll increases to $6 per car
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San Francisco and the Bay Bridge
The Bay Area Transit Authority (BATA) will hold the first of three public hearings today, Nov. 4, to discuss a possible toll fare increase to the San Francisco Bay Bridge and other Bay Area bridges, excluding the Golden Gate Bridge which is run by a different agency. The fare increase could become effective as early as July 1, 2010.
Recently, the Bay Bridge was shut down for nearly six days for emergency repairs. This was following a closure of the bridge during Labor Day weekend. After these incidents, you can bet that the general public is in no mood for any discussion of a toll increase.
It appears that the Bay Area Transit Authority needs hundreds of millions of dollars more to finance seismic retrofit projects and because of a general decline in auto traffic on the bridges, according to an article by Reuters.
Three options will be considered at the three public hearings, according to BATA's Web page set up to provide information on the proposed fare increase. Options 1 and 2 would increase the standard fare from $4 to $5 with other proposed changes like increasing the fare amounts for carpool vehicles or for number of axles on each vehicle. Option 3 would keep the standard $4 weekday toll but increase it to $6 during peak hours and $5 on the weekends.
The first public hearing will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 1:30 p.m. at 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, California. For information on the public hearings scheduled for Nov. 17 and Dec. 3, visit the Web site at mtc.ca.gov.
For current information on the toll fares for the San Francisco Bay Bridge and other Bay Area bridges excluding the Golden Gate Bridge, visit the Bay Area Toll Authority's tolls Web page. Information on the tolls for the Golden Gate Bridge can be found at this Web site.
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