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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

July/August 2006

Commission Actions
May/June 2006

The MTC-run Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) hopes to convince more motorists to pay their bridge tolls electronically with a series of improvements and incentives detailed in the just-adopted FasTrak® Strategic Plan.

The plan calls for designating more FasTrak®-only lanes at the Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridge toll plazas as well as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (a total of 10 more lanes will be converted to FasTrak®-only by April 2007); reconfiguring and restriping lanes to better separate FasTrak® users from drivers paying tolls with cash; and establishing a network of retail outlets where drivers can pick up a toll tag.

To make FasTrak® more accessible, the initial prepaid toll balance for customers who open their accounts with a credit card will be reduced to $25 from the current $40. For customers who do not use a credit card, the required refundable deposit for a toll tag will be reduced to $20 from the current $30.

The strategies are designed to boost the percentage of motorists who pay their tolls electronically to 70 percent during peak commute periods and 50 percent on weekends.

The plan also calls for “open-road tolling” (allowing motorists to pass through the toll facility at highway speeds using their FasTrak® toll tags) at the new Benicia-Martinez Bridge toll plaza when the crossing’s second span opens in late 2007.
BATA Resolution 69

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