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For Immediate Release

Bay Area Toll Authority Takes Steps to Increase FasTrak® Usage

Motorists can now apply online for a FasTrak® account

Contact:

Randy Rentschler, MTC/BATA
510.817.5780

Rod McMillan, MTC/BATA
510.817.5860

OAKLAND, Calif., April 28, 2004 ...The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) today took three actions to help reduce congestion on the Bay Area’s seven state-owned bridges:

  1. They voted to give motorists who use FasTrak® toll tags a four-month reprieve from the $1 toll hike that was approved by the region’s voters in March as part of Regional Measure 2.
  2. They approved the addition of more FasTrak®-only lanes on five of the seven state-owned bridges, which will cut toll plaza backups by allowing FasTrak® users to drive past the tollbooths without stopping.
  3. They made it easier for motorists to apply for a FasTrak® account by launching a new Web page at <www.511.org> that allows people to open an account online.

The temporary discount for two-axle cars that display FasTrak® toll tags will start on the day the bridge toll increase goes into effect on the seven state-owned bridges — July 1, 2004 — and end on Oct. 31, 2004. One new FasTrak®-only lane each will be added to the Benicia-Martinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges, and three more on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The new lanes will be phased in over three months: the Dumbarton and San Mateo bridges in July, the Benicia and Richmond bridges in August, and the Bay Bridge in September.

“We wanted to thank those Bay Area drivers who already have FasTrak® accounts by offering a discount and to encourage others to sign on to use the FasTrak® system, which can help reduce backups at the toll plazas,” said Steve Kinsey, Marin County supervisor and chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). In its role as BATA, MTC will administer the revenues from the toll increase and oversee the package of transportation improvement projects the increase will fund. The proposed toll discount will be temporary because a longer discount period would have a greater impact on the amount of toll revenues collected, which could affect the funding and delivery of the projects promised the voters.

The new Web page at MTC’s traveler information Web site <www.511.org> makes it possible not only for users of the state-owned bridges to apply online for a FasTrak® account but also for motorists who primarily or exclusively use the Golden Gate Bridge, which is operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD), a special district of the state of California.

As part of its efforts to increase the number of drivers using FasTrak®, BATA plans to create a regional FasTrak® customer service center by June 2005 by merging the Concord customer service center previously operated by Caltrans (now under BATA administration) with that of the GGBHTD, which currently operates its own center in Mill Valley to serve Golden Gate Bridge FasTrak® users.

“The merger is expected to save money for all of the involved agencies, while providing customers with a seamless toll payment process,” said Mike Nevin, MTC/BATA commissioner and San Mateo County supervisor.

Currently, all lanes on all eight bridges in the region are equipped with the FasTrak® equipment, but only 30 percent of motorists crossing the state-owned bridges during weekday peak periods now use FasTrak® , while 70 percent of the motorists using the Golden Gate Bridge during the morning peak period have FasTrak® accounts. A FasTrak®-only lane can handle almost three times as many vehicles per hour as a lane in which tolls are collected manually. Commute-hour delays at the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza have been significantly reduced since FasTrak® equipment was installed in 2000 — instead of the 20-minute backups that were common before, today motorists experience virtually no delays at the toll plaza during the morning commute.

BATA was created by the California Legislature to administer the base toll revenues generated by the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges. MTC — the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county region — provides policy direction and staffing for BATA, which began operations in January 1998. For more information about BATA, go to <www.mtc.ca.gov/bata>; for more information about GGBHTD, go to <www.goldengate.org>.

 

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