Press Releases

For Immediate Release

More FasTrak®-only Lanes to Open at Bay Bridge

New Accounts Get $10 Credit, Motorists Can Enroll at Toll Plaza

Contact:

Rod McMillan, BATA/MTC, 510.817.5860
John Goodwin, BATA/MTC, 510.817.5862
Jeff Weiss, Caltrans, 510.286.5543

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 1, 2005…Bay Area motorists can look forward to an early Christmas present on Monday, Dec. 19, when the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) open two new FasTrak®-only lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Caltrans will convert lanes #9 and #10, near the center of the main toll plaza, for exclusive use by vehicles equipped with FasTrak® electronic toll collection transponders. Tolls on these lanes currently can be paid with cash or FasTrak® .

To encourage more motorists to sign up for FasTrak® , BATA will credit all new FasTrak® accounts opened from Dec. 1 to Dec. 19 with an additional $10 in prepaid tolls. Travelers can enroll online at www.511.org or www.bayareafastrak.org, via phone by calling 511 and saying “FasTrak®,” or in person by visiting the main FasTrak® Customer Service Center located at 475 The Embarcadero (at Broadway) in downtown San Francisco, or at a temporary satellite center in the administration building at the Bay Bridge toll plaza that will be open from Monday, Dec. 5 through Wednesday, Dec. 21. Those who sign up in person will receive FasTrak® transponders on the spot. Motorists who enroll online or via phone can expect to receive their transponders in about seven to 10 business days.

“Convenience and efficiency are what FasTrak® is all about,” said Mike Nevin, who represents San Mateo County on the BATA and Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) board, and chairs the BATA Oversight Committee. “FasTrak® saves time and helps ease congestion. It’s easy to sign up, the transponders are free, and drivers don’t need to worry about having cash when they cross a bridge. Now we’re throwing in $10 in prepaid tolls. It just doesn’t make any sense to not have FasTrak®. ”

The temporary satellite center to be established at the Bay Bridge toll plaza will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. Motorists can enter the toll plaza parking lot from the left lane in either the eastbound or westbound direction. Those who sign up for FasTrak® at the Bay Bridge toll plaza must use a credit card to open their prepaid toll account, and must have a valid e-mail address. Motorists who choose to open their prepaid toll account by check must visit the main FasTrak® Customer Service Center in San Francisco. All new FasTrak® accounts opened from Dec. 1 through Dec. 19 will be eligible for the $10 credit.

“These new FasTrak®-only lanes are another example of Caltrans’ ongoing commitment to promoting the use of intelligent transportation systems to improve the efficiency and safety of California’s transportation system,” said Caltrans Director Will Kempton.

FasTrak®-only lanes can handle about three times as many vehicles per hour as lanes where drivers stop to pay cash. Fifteen of the 70 toll lanes at the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges, including five of the 20 toll lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza, currently are reserved for FasTrak® users. The upcoming conversions will bring to seven the number of FasTrak®-only lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Lanes reserved for FasTrak®-equipped vehicles will include lanes #5, #9, #10 and #11 at the main toll plaza and lanes #18, #19 and #20 at the “mini plaza” on the far right side of the roadway. A diagram of the FasTrak®-only lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza can be viewed online at www.mtc.ca.gov/news/info/BayBridge-FasTrak-Dec05.pdf.

More than 400,000 FasTrak® accounts are now open in the Bay Area, and some 580,000 vehicles are outfitted with FasTrak® transponders.

BATA, which is directed by the same policy board as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), administers tolls on the Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges and oversees the operation of the FasTrak® Customer Service Center on behalf of MTC, Caltrans and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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