Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Sign up for FasTrak® and Get $15 in Free Tolls

Transponders Available at Bay Bridge Toll Plaza

Public Contact:

Phone 511

Media Contact:

Rod McMillan, MTC/BATA, 510.817.5860
Randy Rentschler, MTC/BATA, 510.817.5780
Jeff Weiss, Caltrans, 510.286.5543
Mary Currie, GGBHTD, 415.923.2222

View New Bay Bridge FasTrak® Lanes (PDF)

Apply for FasTrak® Today!

Oakland, Calif., June 22, 2005…The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), in its role as the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced today that beginning immediately, the first 5,000 new customers who open a FasTrak® electronic toll collection account will receive a credit of $15 added to their pre-paid toll balance. The credit is to provide an incentive for motorists to sign up for FasTrak® and take advantage of the new FasTrak®-only lanes that will open next week at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza. On Monday, June 27, Caltrans will convert toll lanes #18, #19 and #20 — which pass through the “mini-plaza” to the right of the main toll plaza — for exclusive use by vehicles equipped with FasTrak® transponders. Tolls on these lanes currently can be paid with cash or FasTrak®.

“The $15 credit will be a good incentive for people to take advantage of FasTrak® and the new FasTrak®-only lanes on the Bay Bridge, ” said MTC and BATA commissioner Mike Nevin. “We are essentially offering a week’s worth of free tolls for the everyday Bay Bridge commuter. ”

To make it even easier for travelers to get on the FasTrak®, a temporary FasTrak® customer service center will open this week in the Bay Bridge toll plaza parking lot. Motorists who visit the mobile center on Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24 and open a FasTrak® account will receive their free transponder on-site and in time to take advantage of the three new FasTrak®-only lanes. The temporary center will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday.

The new FasTrak®-only lanes are designed to reduce travel times for motorists with FasTrak® transponders approaching the Bay Bridge from Interstate 880. Existing FasTrak®-only lanes at the Bay Bridge are easily accessible to motorists coming from Interstates 80 or 580, but FasTrak® users approaching the bridge from Interstate 880 have not had convenient access to a dedicated FasTrak® lane until now. Bridge users, particularly those approaching the toll plaza from Interstate 880, initially can expect some additional delays, especially during peak periods. These waits are expected to decrease as more motorists sign up for FasTrak® and as drivers become familiar with the new lane configuration.

In addition to offering the $15 credit to the first 5,000 new customers and setting up the mobile FasTrak® customer service center at the Bay Bridge toll plaza , Caltrans and BATA are conducting extensive public outreach to ensure that travelers are informed of the new FasTrak®-only lanes, and to encourage motorists to open FasTrak® accounts. Outreach conducted over the last several weeks to announce the lane conversions has included radio advertisements, banners at the mini- toll plaza, and messages on the changeable message signs leading to the Bay Bridge. Toll collectors in the mini- toll plaza at the Bay Bridge have been distributing flyers to motorists announcing the new lanes as well.

Motorists can sign up for FasTrak® on the Web at <www.511.org> , request an application form by phone by calling 511 (TDD 711) and saying “FasTrak®, ” or by visiting the new FasTrak® Customer Service Center located at 475 The Embarcadero (at Broadway) in downtown San Francisco. Motorists who sign up for FasTrak® at either the main customer service center in San Francisco or the temporary center at the Bay Bridge toll plaza can leave with a transponder in hand.

FasTrak® transponders can be used to pay tolls at each of the Bay Area’s eight toll bridges. Currently, more than 400,000 FasTrak® accounts are now open in the Bay Area, and some 580,000 vehicles are outfitted with FasTrak® transponders.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. BATA, which is directed by the same policy board as MTC, administers both the $1 base toll on the Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges and the $1 toll approved by voters in 2004 through Regional Measure 2.

Caltrans owns, operates and maintains seven Bay Area toll bridges and is responsible for administration and oversight of the $1 seismic surcharge. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD) operates the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Transit and the Golden Gate Ferry system.

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