Press Releases

For Immediate Release

MTC to Hold Public Hearing on FasTrak® Toll Discount November 14

CONTACT:

Rod McMillan
510.817.5860

Randy Rentschler
510.817.5780

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 12, 2001 . . .The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will hold a hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 10 a.m. at the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter at 101 Eighth Street in Oakland to receive public testimony on a proposal to eliminate the $0.15 per-crossing discount given to commuters on the seven state-owned Bay Area bridges. The affected spans are the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael, San Mateo-Hayward and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridges. Tolls on all these bridges are administered by the Bay Area Toll Authority, under the direction of MTC.

The current cash toll on these bridges is $2 for two-axle vehicles. FasTrak® users pay $1.85. The Golden Gate Bridge had a similar discount, which ended July 1, 2001.

The discount rate began as an incentive for commuters to buy bridge tickets in advance in the form of commute books, rather than slow traffic at the tollgate. At a public hearing in December of 1995, the Commission decided to carry over this incentive to users of FasTrak® for one year after FasTrak® was implemented on all the bridges as a transition to the new system. "It is noted on the FasTrak® application that the discount will be in place for one year after FasTrak® is available on all bridges," said MTC Spokesman Randy Rentschler.

On Dec. 30, 2000, Caltrans finished installing FasTrak® readers on all Bay Area bridges. Therefore by January 1, 2002, the one-year transition to the new system will end. At that time all automobiles would be charged $2 for crossing the seven affected bridges. This includes a base toll of $1 plus a $1 surcharge implemented after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake to make Bay Area bridges seismically sound.

The Bay Area Toll Authority estimates that the elimination of the discount would increase toll revenues by $3.5 million next year. The added revenue will help MTC offset the cost of operating FasTrak®, which has cost $54.3 million to implement and has annual operating costs of $5.1 million each year. The new revenue will help to keep the bridges in good condition, and will continue to repay bonds for replacing the aging Benicia-Martinez Bridge and the widening of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

FasTrak® allows commuters to pass through tollgates at 25 miles per hour, without stopping, rather than wait in long lines on the way through. Since the initial installation of the automatic toll collection equipment, 171,000 FasTrak® transponders have been issued for the region's seven state-owned bridges. (Additional transponders have been issued for the Golden Gate Bridge.) An average of 76,000 vehicles use FasTrak® each day in the Bay Area, and the number continues to rise steadily.

"FasTrak® has made life much more convenient for thousands of Bay Area drivers each day," said MTC Chair Sharon Brown.

Electronic toll collection allows more cars to travel the bridges at any given time. Lanes dedicated to FasTrak® traffic can accommodate 1,000 vehicles per hour, compared to 400 for those with staffed tollbooths.

Eliminating the need for commuters to wait at the tollgate also means better air quality since stop-and-go traffic exacerbates pollution.

The same FasTrak® transponders that the Bay Area Toll Authority bridges use also can be used on the Golden Gate Bridge in the Bay Area; the State Route 91 express lanes; Foothill, Eastern and San Joaquin Hills toll roads in Orange County; as well as on Interstate 15 and State Route 125 outside San Diego.

MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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