TOLLS FOR SEVEN BAY AREA BRIDGES TO INCREASE BY $1 IN 2007

By Laurie Isola, Bay City News

January 25, 2006

Motorists will have to dig a little deeper next year as the toll for seven state-owned Bay Area bridges will increase by $1 on Jan. 1, 2007.

The 19-member Bay Area Toll Authority unanimously approved the increase at its meeting this morning, according to agency public information officer Joe Curley.

Assembly Bill 144, enacted into law in July 2005, authorized the agency to increase the rates in order to fund toll bridge seismic retrofit projects in the Bay Area. The total estimated cost of the retrofit program, which includes the Bay Bridge east span replacement project, is over $8 billion.

The agency also approved a one-month toll discount of $1 for January 2007 for two-axle vehicles using FasTrak, Curley said.

Expanding the discount to all FasTrak-enabled vehicles will be research by agency staff and considered at a later time.

The $1 increase will affect the Bay Bridge and the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Richmond-San Rafael, San Mateo Hayward and Dumbarton bridges.

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