Committee recommends congestion pricing

By James Lanares

March 13, 2008

The 13 members of the Golden Gate Bridge District’s finance committee unanimously recommended passage of a resolution that would impose higher tolls on the bridge during periods of high traffic congestion.

The full 18-member board of directors is scheduled to vote on the congestion pricing resolution Friday morning.

Approving the resolution would qualify the Bay Area for $158.7 million in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation under an Urban Partnership Agreement.

The congestion pricing proposal has to be approved by March 31 before the money can be spent. The actual collection of the congestion toll must begin no later than Sept. 30, 2009.

Some of the money would help pay for the $1.1 billion reconstruction of the Doyle Drive approach to the bridge, improvements to the district’s ferry system and congestion mitigation efforts in the Bay Area.

The resolution approving congestion pricing does not specify a congestion toll amount. Specifics would be developed in the next 30-45 days and a public hearing would then be held in June.

FCJ Editor

More Posts