san francisco

July 1 last year (2010) the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge saw a pair of radical changes in the toll structure: (1) a $4.00 to $6.00 increase in the peakhours' toll rate for cars while the offpeak toll remained the same (2) a $2.50 toll on previously free carpool vehicles (HOV3) in peakhours.

Golden Gate Bridge board of directors voted today (Jan 28) to end cash toll collection at the iconic San Francisco bridge with conversion to all-electronic toll (AET) collection. The vote was 13 for AET, 2 against. Yesterday (Jan 27) the Finance Committee voted for AET by 8 to 3. The schedule presented by staff aims to go fully live with AET between September and December 2012.

A congestion pricing plan proposed for downtown San Francisco would levy a $3 toll or 'fee' for travel in a downtown zone 6am to 9am and 3pm to 7pm weekdays. The plan being advanced by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) would cap the congestion toll at two trips or $6/day for travel in and out of the central area as well as within it.

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.