Reminder to California Motorists: Bridge Tolls Will Rise to $4 on Jan. 1, 2007

FasTrak(R) Users Get Month-long Reprieve

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 28 -- On Jan. 1, 2007, a $1 toll increase will go into effect on the Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges. Tolls on the affected bridges -- Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael, San Francisco-Oakland Bay and San Mateo-Hayward -- will rise to $4 from the current $3 level. However, drivers of cars and other two-axle vehicles who pay their tolls electronically with a FasTrak(R) toll tag will receive a $1 discount off the new toll throughout the month of January 2007.

The toll hike was authorized by the state Legislature in July 2005 with the passage of Assembly Bill 144, which established a financing plan to complete the state Toll Bridge Seismic Retrofit Program -- including construction of the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) gave final approval of the toll increase in January 2006. (The toll hike does not affect the Golden Gate Bridge, where tolls will remain as currently set: $4 for FasTrak(R) users and $5 for motorists who pay in cash.)

The month-long FasTrak(R) promotional discount is being offered as a way to encourage motorists to enroll in the electronic toll collection program, which in addition to short-term cash savings can offer motorists long-term benefits in convenience and reduced congestion. To help travelers get on the FasTrak(R), the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) opened a temporary customer service center on Dec. 15 at the Bay Bridge toll plaza administration building (which can be accessed via the far left lane in either direction). The satellite center allows customers who have an active e-mail address -- and who open their accounts with a credit card -- to walk out with a FasTrak(R) toll tag in hand. The satellite customer service center will remain in place through Saturday, Dec. 30. Operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Customers also can enroll in the FasTrak(R) program online at 511.org, by calling 511 and asking for "FasTrak" at the first prompt, or in person at the permanent FasTrak(R) customer service center at 475 The Embarcadero in San Francisco. Operating hours are Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"We've been working hard to get the word out that bridge tolls will bump up to $4 at the first of the year," said Andrew Fremier, deputy executive director of the Bay Area Toll Authority. Fremier continued, "Bridge tolltakers have handed out fliers, changeable message signs have been activated at every bridge toll plaza, and we've been running print, radio and TV ads to alert folks to the Jan. 1 toll increase and the month-long FasTrak(R) incentive. Now we're getting down to the wire, so we're issuing another public reminder to Bay Area motorists."

BATA earlier this year made it easier for motorists to enroll in the FasTrak(R) program by reducing the opening prepaid toll balance required for new customers to $25 from the previous $40. No deposit is required for customers who link their accounts to a credit card and request no more than three toll tags.

FasTrak(R) can be used in all lanes at all Bay Area toll plazas.

The Bay Area Toll Authority administers toll revenues from the Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges, which are owned, operated and maintained by Caltrans. BATA is directed by the same policy board as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC); MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Toll revenues from the Golden Gate Bridge are administered by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, which joined with BATA to operate a single regional FasTrak(R) customer service center in San Francisco.