Tolls Raised on Bay Area Bridges

The tolls on seven Bay Area bridges rose from $2 to $3 last week, greeted with moans of resignation as well as some traffic jams.

Many motorists arriving at tollbooths fumbled for the extra dollar, backing up rush-hour traffic even farther. Some even argued with toll collectors.

“It went OK, but not great,” said Randy Rentschler, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “Things are now settling down pretty quickly.”

About 823,800 drivers cross the Bay Area’s bridges every day. The toll rose at seven of the area’s eight major bridges but not at Golden Gate Bridge, which charges $5 for most cars.

“It’s only fair,” said commuter Scott Hauge, who crosses the Golden Gate every day for work. “I call it justice.”

The revenue, estimated at $125 million a year, will be used to pay for several projects to reduce congestion in the often-gridlocked region, including new ferries, expanded rail lines and increased bus service.

“There’s no one thing we’re going to do that will make this congestion evaporate,” said Julia Maglione, a spokeswoman for RIDES, a ride-sharing program for commuters. “People aren’t lying to themselves about that, but this is certainly going to help.”

The improvements, however, will be gradual, especially in the first year. Officials must first pay off an estimated $5 million to seven counties for the March election on the issue and an additional $1 million in administration costs.

Officials have also budgeted $10 million for a discount program that will last until Oct. 31.

Drivers will be charged only $2 if they use the FasTrak system, which speeds cars through toll booths by scanning a card-sized transponder on the windshield.

The toll plan has also hit some legislative snags.

A federal law prohibits local government from using tolls on federally funded bridges to pay for transit operations. The rule applies to three of the seven bridges, which have used federal dollars for seismic retrofitting. Transportation officials are lobbying the issue on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, they plan to use revenue from the three bridges for capital costs instead, such as buying new buses and ferries.

So far, reaction to the increases has been mixed.

“This is going to hit us hard,” said Carl Dolk, who works for a local trucking company. His company’s trucks crossed the Bay Area bridges 17,000 times last year. Truckers have taken a pounding from high gas prices this year, he said. “One extra dollar every trip has a big impact.”

Commuters hoping to avoid the extra costs are joining the FasTrak discount program, Maglione said, or carpooling during peak hours, which exempts them from the tolls altogether. But many are simply paying the $3 charge. “Unless you want to swim, you’re kind of stuck,” she said.

Some commuters, such as gardener Michael Collins, actually welcomed the toll hike. “Right now, it takes me an hour just to get across the Bay,” he said. “Something has to be done about the congestion. Maybe the higher toll will get people out of their cars and on the buses or BART.”

Some grumbling and resistance are to be expected, said Rentschler, the transportation commission spokesman.

“Of course, there are going to be folks who aren’t happy about it,” he said. “But you can either have more congestion or you can have more tolls.... It’s inconvenient, but welcome to urban America.”