Agencies Team up to Put Bay Area Motorists on FasTrak(TM)

New Web Site Expands Customer Services

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7 -- Thanks to a pair of customer service improvements launched today by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Caltrans and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD), it's easier than ever for motorists to get on the FasTrak(TM) and use electronic toll collection to zip through the toll plazas on all eight Bay Area toll bridges without stopping to pay cash.

To meet travelers' needs any time of the day or night, the three agencies activated a versatile new Web site that can be accessed at www.511.org. The new Web site not only allows new customers to apply online for a FasTrak(TM) transponder but enables existing FasTrak(TM) customers to manage and review their accounts anytime. Visitors to the Web site also can resolve violation notices online and obtain detailed information about each of the Bay Area's eight toll bridges, including diagrams illustrating the location of all dedicated FasTrak(TM) lanes (for information about new FasTrak(TM)-only lanes, please see June 7 news release from MTC and Caltrans).

In addition to unveiling the new Web site, MTC, Caltrans and the GGBHTD also opened a new regional FasTrak(TM) Customer Service Center at 475 The Embarcadero (at Broadway) in San Francisco. The new center replaces separate facilities in Concord and Mill Valley that were managed, respectively, by MTC in its role as the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) and by the GGBHTD. "Consolidating the FasTrak(TM) Customer Service Centers into a single facility provides better service to the public and allows all of the agencies to streamline administration and cut costs," explained MTC-BATA chair Jon Rubin.

The new Customer Service Center is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to assist customers who want to open a new FasTrak(TM) account, add or replace a transponder, or make inquiries about their accounts.

FasTrak(TM) transponders can be used on all lanes at all Bay Area toll plazas, and for travel on toll lanes on highways in Southern California. Dedicated FasTrak(TM) lanes can handle almost three times as many vehicles per hour as a lane in which tolls are collected manually. As vehicles pass, an overhead antenna reads the transponder and automatically deducts the toll from the driver's prepaid account. Motorists can authorize FasTrak(TM) to charge a credit card to replenish the account whenever their pre-paid balance gets low.

"FasTrak(TM) is quick. And it's convenient, since it can be linked to a credit card for automatic replenishment," observed Maureen Middlebrook, president of the GGBHTD Board of Directors. "That's a combination that saves a lot of people a lot of time and frustration."

Currently, about 420,000 FasTrak(TM) accounts are open in the Bay Area, and some 580,000 vehicles are equipped with FasTrak(TM) transponders. These vehicles account for roughly 37 percent of peak period traffic on the Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges and 70 percent of peak traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge.

For more information about FasTrak(TM), including online enrollment, access the new FasTrak(TM) Web site by going to www.511.org and clicking on the FasTrak(TM) logo. Applications also can be requested from the FasTrak(TM) Customer Service Center by calling 511, and saying "FasTrak(TM)" at the first prompt. Motorists who open an account will be sent a FasTrak(TM) transponder, which usually is affixed to a vehicle's windshield. ACS State and Local Solutions, Inc. is the contractor hired to operate the new FasTrak(TM) Customer Service Center.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. BATA, which is directed by the same policy board as MTC, administers both the $1 base toll on the San Francisco Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges and the $1 toll approved by voters in 2004 through Regional Measure 2.

Caltrans owns, operates and maintains seven Bay Area toll bridges and is responsible for administration and oversight of the $1 seismic surcharge.

The GGBHTD operates the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Transit and the Golden Gate Ferry system.