golden gate bridge

2013-03-26: The Golden Gate Bridge toll booths will be empty Wednesday morning by the time you read this - the first time in 75 years of the bridge existence. The plan was that sometime after midnight Tuesday night Pacific time they'd "cut over" to a new all-electronic toll system. The last toll collectors were due to leave their booths for the last cash collection shift in the early minutes of Wednesday. at around 00:01.

2012-05-04: Radical threats to rally at the Golden Gate Bridge and close it on May Day fizzled completely.  Alex Tonisson chairman of the Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition told us this was because they needed a rally and picket line at the ferry terminal instead.

2012-04-25: The Golden Gate Bridge authority is preparing for May Day mobs staging rallies beside the bridge along with "occupy" actions to disrupt traffic and toll operations.

The posters for a May 1 rally in the Bay area are headed up: "Occupy the Bridge!" According to SFist this constitutes Occupy having "stopped being polite" and "getting real." There are union rallies scheduled alongside the toll plaza on what they call a "Day of Action."

And supposedly Occupy groups will also converge on the bridge.

The grievances:

- possible reduced retiree benefits,

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.

The Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) authority is planning all-electronic tolling (AET) as a major budget balancing measure as well as a way of reducing exhaust emissions and motorist delay. A longterm financial plan shows AET as contributing a $16.3m in savings through FY2019/2020, by far the largest item in a list of "Increased efficiencies through technology." (Attachment p1 to FY2009/2010 Financial Plan for Achieving Longterm Financial Stability)

The Golden Gate Bridge is deferring their toll increases scheduled for Sept 1 to Sept 2. Staff realized belatedly that Sept 1 is Labor Day and a bad day to introduce new toll rates. That's because on holidays they get a lot of occasional users and the most cash payers.

The board of directors has approved a one dollar or 20% increase in the toll on the Golden Gate Bridge to go into effect September 1 making the new toll $6 for cars paying cash and $5 by transponder. The per axle rate for trucks is half the car rate. Tolls are levied only on the southbound direction of travel. Northbound is always free.