TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINEMarch/April 2004 Facts and Figures: Decisive Win for Regional Measure 2 Voters Say “Yes” to Tolls For Traffic Relief  Bay Area voters’ decisive approval of Regional Measure 2 (RM 2)
in the March 2 election delivered a big win for commuters. The measure raises tolls on the
seven state-owned toll bridges by $1 in order to fund an ambitious $1.5 billion list of
capital projects contained in the Regional Traffic Relief Plan.
“Bay Area voters reaffirmed their commitment to building and maintaining an efficient, diverse and balanced transportation system,” commented MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. Developed by the state Legislature with assistance from MTC, public transit agencies, and Bay Area business and environmental groups, the Regional Traffic Relief Plan calls for easing key freeway bottlenecks; new rail, express bus and ferry projects; seismic strengthening of the transbay BART tube; redevelopment of the Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco; a new bus/ferry terminal in Vallejo; regionwide implementation of MTC’s TransLink® transit-fare smart card system; and a host of improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists. Recognizing that new buses, trains and ferries will do little to improve regional transit service without funds to pay the drivers, mechanics and dispatchers need-ed to operate them, the Regional Traffic Relief Plan dedicates some $1.6 billion over the next 35 years to transit operations. This is in addition to the $1.5 billion in capital spending. However, because tolls collected on bridges that receive federal dollars cannot be used for transit operations — and three of the state-owned bridges currently receive federal funds for seismic retrofit work — a special exemption must be secured to permit RM 2 toll revenues on those bridges to be spent in support of transit operations. The Golden Gate Bridge already enjoys such an exemption, and MTC is working in Washington, D.C., to secure similar treatment for the bridges covered by RM 2. MTC, in its role as the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), is scheduled to formally certify the election results — and adopt a new toll schedule — April 28. The RM 2 toll hike takes effect July 1, 2004, and is projected to raise $125 million annually. To entice more motorists to pay tolls electronically, MTC/BATA has proposed delaying the $1 increase for four months for cars and other two-axle vehicles equipped with FasTrak® transponders. — John Goodwin
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