Toll rate increases on the seven state-owned bridges in the Bay Area are a popular topic of news and commentary this month. (You can skim through TRN’s coverage by entering the “Bay Area Toll Authority (San Francisco) (BATA)” content tag in the website search bar.
Last week, a Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) article recapped recent rate-setting and toll revenue spending. In addition to summarizing hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in bridge and highway work, the article reminded readers that the region’s voters approved certain increases expressly to provide funds for transit projects and services. While much of that work directly benefitted rail, bus, and ferry patrons, it also contributed to congestion relief for motorists. Project examples cited by MTC included “interchange improvements in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties; an expanded Express Lane network; a direct freeway connector from northbound U.S. 101 in Marin County to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge; upgrades to relieve congestion in the Dumbarton Bridge corridor; and improvements to state Route 37.”