ANNUAL REPORT

MTC Annual Report 2000

Bridges are a defining feature of this scenic region, spanning San Francisco Bay in breathtaking sweeps or with sturdy functionality. The task of ensuring that adequate funding is available for the up-keep of the seven state-owned toll bridges falls to the Bay Area Toll Authority, one of MTC's two alter egos. BATA is currently overseeing a major, $1.5 billion construction program to overhaul the aging spans--which originally opened between 1927 and 1984--and to keep pace with ever-increasing transbay traffic.

Constructing new spans, widening existing ones and upgrading approaches will cost some $1.5 billion by the time all of the planned expansion projects are completed. Bridge rehabilitation projects will add another $190 million to the tab over a 10-year period.

This huge investment in the Bay Area's infrastructure is being paid for thanks to the foresight of the region's voters, who in 1988 approved Regional Measure 1 (RM 1). The measure authorized a standard base auto toll of $1 for the region's state-owned bridges to pay not only for certain highway and bridge improvements, but also for public transit rail extensions, and other congestion-busting projects. (The second dollar of the toll was added in 1998 to help pay for the bridge seismic retrofit program, which is overseen by Caltrans.)

In all, five of the seven toll bridges are getting a boost from RM 1: the Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, San Mateo-Hayward, Richmond-San Rafael and Dumbarton bridges. (The Antioch Bridge is not currently undergoing any work, while the new east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be funded by seismic retrofit dollars.)

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• In the city of Martinez, grading equipment and personnel are out in full force, preparing the ground for the new Benicia-Martinez Bridge toll plaza. Work also has begun on the south approach to the bridge, and other portions of the project will kick off in 2001: construction of a new five-lane, northbound span as well as the toll plaza and administration building, and interchange improvements along Interstate 680. The original span will be reconfigured to carry four southbound lanes plus a bicycle/pedestrian path.
  
  
• Work is going on underwater as well, with the installation of foundations for the new span of the Carquinez Bridge. The 74-year-old steel truss structure that carries westbound traffic will be replaced with a graceful, twin-towered suspension bridge that will have room for a fourth traffic lane as well as a pedestrian/bicycle lane.
  
  
• On the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, concrete trucks have been lining up, pouring a new bridge deck. The bridge's trestle portion and eastern approach are in the process of being widened, and construction to expand the toll plaza will start in the spring of 2001. Once completed, the bridge widening will result in a six-lane stretch to match the capacity of the soaring high-rise portion of the span.
  
  
• The project to rehabilitate the low-rise section of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is being combined with Caltrans' seismic retrofit of the bridge structure, and construction crews are already on the scene. The final segment of the Richmond Parkway--the new eastern approach to the bridge from Interstate 80 near the city of Pinole--is expected to be completed by the spring of 2001.
  
  
• One of two projects to improve the western approaches to the Dumbarton Bridge is already finished--the modification to the interchange of U.S. Highway 101 and University Avenue--and the widening of the Bayfront Expressway will be kicked off in 2001.

Bridges Strengthened to Withstand the "Big One"
A multibillion-dollar Caltrans program to strengthen the Bay Area's toll bridges is keeping pace with BATA's bridge expansion efforts. Funded in part by the $1 toll seismic surcharge, work on the affected spans is already well underway. The seismic retrofit of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge was completed in April 2000, while that of the Benicia and Carquinez bridges will wind up in 2001 - 02. Work on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is scheduled to be finished in mid-2005, and on the west span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2008.

The seismic safety project whose progress has elicited the greatest public interest--the replacement of the east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge--is being overseen by Caltrans in partnership with BATA, and expected to be completed by the end of 2006. MTC became involved in the project at the request of the state Legislature, forming the Bay Bridge Design Task Force in 1997. After months of input from the public and from a panel of engineering experts, MTC, now acting as BATA, selected a design in mid-1998: a graceful, single-tower suspension structure over the shipping channel, linking to a causeway. At the same time, BATA authorized an extension of the $1 toll seismic surcharge to pay for the suspension portion of the new east span as well as a bicycle/pedestrian path along its entire length. The design of the causeway is now complete, while design work on the suspension segment is expected to wrap up in the summer of 2001.

In a related effort, a BATA study looking at options for extending the bicycle/pedestrian path to the west span of the Bay Bridge is expected to wind up in the spring of 2001. And, in response to ballot measures passed in three East Bay cities and San Francisco, BATA also undertook a feasibility analysis of including a rail line across the Bay Bridge. Completed in July 2000, the study found that such train service would be possible but prohibitively costly, requiring complex structural modifications to the west span of the bridge and through Yerba Buena Island.

Design for Multimodal Terminal Unveiled
BATA has completed a conceptual plan for a new and expanded Transbay Transit Terminal to be constructed on the site of the existing structure in downtown San Francisco. The aging transportation hub is linked to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (both structures date to the 1930s) and serves some 20,000 bus passengers daily.

The proposed design for the new glass-and-steel terminal would make travel by both bus and rail more convenient and pleasant for commuters.

It features two levels of bus platforms, an underground terminal for future rail service (including a possible extension of the Caltrain commuter rail line), ground-level retail and public spaces, and a grand entry from the street, similar to classic train terminals in Europe. The airy structure would serve AC Transit, San Francisco Muni, SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit, as well as Greyhound and other private carriers.

BATA has worked closely with Caltrans, AC Transit, Caltrain, the city and county of San Francisco, and other affected parties during the conceptual design phase of the study. The next hurdle is finding the funding to pay for the new terminal's $1 billion price tag.

Completion of the project will give San Francisco yet another striking landmark to dazzle visitors and residents alike, and one that will encourage transit use as well.

Bonds Fuel Construction
BATA spent much of 2000 gearing up for a new era in its financial operations: issuing bonds to help pay for the RM 1 toll bridge construction program. The financing plan projects that up to $1 billion in bonds ultimately will be needed, with an initial borrowing of $400 million in the spring of 2001. Meanwhile, BATA received an impressive AA bond rating from two credit rating agencies. In the words of Standard & Poor's, "This represents one of the highest credit ratings Standard & Poor's carries on a toll agency, and the highest among all transportation-related enterprises." All bonds will be repaid from the base tolls collected on the bridges.