The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District Board of Directors is seeking public input on potential five-year toll increase plans.
Revenue from the toll increase is intended to counter a projected five-year shortfall between $220-471 million, according to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District website. About half of the agency’s annual toll revenue goes towards the maintenance and operation of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the other half going towards operating Golden Gate Transit and Golden Gate Ferry transit services.
A public hearing on the potential toll increase will be held on Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. in the board room of the administration building at Golden Gate Bridge Toll Plaza. Open houses will be held via webinars this Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. and on Thursday from 7-8 p.m.
There are four potential toll increase plans. Option one calls for a 50 cent annual increase, which would raise an estimated $139 million over five years, according to the bridge district.
Option two calls for a 40 cent annual increase, which would raise an estimated $114 million in the same period.
Option three calls for a four percent annual increase, which would raise an estimated $107 million. This option would mean 35 cent toll increases in the first two years, and 40 cents in years three, four and five. Invoice tolls would increase by 40 cents in the last three years, as compared to Fastrak and pay-as-you-go tolls.
Option four calls for a 35 cent annual increase, which would raise an estimated $101 million over the five-year-long period.
Translation services will be available at both the town hall and public hearing meetings. All printed materials and handouts will be available in other languages including Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese.
Community members who want to share their input but can not attend the virtual open houses or public hearing can send feedback via email to publichearing@goldengate.org, by filling out an online public comment form or by mailing it to district secretary Amorette Ko-Wong at Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District P.O. Box 29000, Presidio Station, in San Francisco. Comments must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 23.