san francisco

There's been much talk of a budget problem in the state of California, a "crisis" even. Piffle and hooey. They're obviously rolling in money. They're just launching the pretty - and pretty pricey - Presidio Parkway project. $1 billion+.

Regional government in the San Francisco Bay area and the associated public toll authority are now committed to an extensive network of tolled lanes - some 1300km or 800 miles of tolled lanes to be developed out of an existing and planned high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane network at a capital cost of about $4.8b.

Illustrating what anti-toll politicians on Capitol Hill like House transport chair James Oberstar (Dem MN) are up against in trying to stem the tide of tolling, the major institutions of the San Francisco Bay Area this month have agreed, without any serious dissent, to progressively implement tolling on about 1270 lane-km (790 lane-miles) of high occupant vehicle (HOV) lanes on Bay Area expressways - or as they say over there - in the carpool lanes of area freeways.