Bay Area Toll Authority

Responsibilities

BATA administers, programs and allocates revenues from all tolls levied on the seven state-owned toll bridges: Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond – San Rafael, San Francisco – Oakland and San Mateo – Hayward. As part of these activities, BATA funds the day-to-day operations, facilities maintenance, and administration of the bridges. BATA also funds the long-term capital improvement and rehabilitation of the bridges, including the projects mandated by Regional Measure 1 (RM 1) and the Toll Bridge Seismic Retrofit Program.

Although it operates all the other toll bridges in the Bay Area, San Francisco's most famous bridge does not fall under its jurisdiction, as the Golden Gate Bridge is operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. However, BATA operates a centralized billing and customer service system for the FasTrak electronic toll collection program used by the Golden Gate Bridge, the seven state-owned toll bridges, and all the high-occupancy toll lanes in the Bay Area.

Regional Measure 1

In 1988, Bay Area voters approved Regional Measure 1 (RM 1), raising tolls on the state-owned bridges to a uniform $1 and pledging the proceeds to specific bridge corridor improvements. Caltrans owns and operates the toll bridges and is responsible for the construction of the voter-approved RM 1 projects, including a new span for the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, a replacement for the west span of the Carquinez Bridge, and widening the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. BATA is responsible for funding and overseeing the RM 1 bridge program.

Regional Measure 2

With transbay travel in the Bay Area expected to increase by approximately 40 percent over the next two decades, the California Legislature in 2002 determined that new investment in the bridge corridors was needed, along with a new revenue source.

Regional Measure 2 (RM 2), which was approved by Bay Area voters in March 2004, increased tolls on the region's state-owned bridges by $1 and funds a balanced set of transportation projects in the bridge corridors, including new mass transit options and critical highway bottleneck improvements, including the Dumbarton Express. The project list also included funding for the Salesforce Transit Center, seismic improvements and extensions for BART, Muni Metro's T Third Street, AC Transit bus service upgrades, and more.

The list of projects — called the “Regional Traffic Relief Plan” and included in the enabling legislation — will be financed by the $1 increase in tolls. MTC will be responsible for allocating the toll. BATA will be responsible for issuing bonds and for submitting updates on the Regional Traffic Relief Plan to the state Legislature.

Regional Measure 3

In 2017, the California Senate passed SB 595 to put Regional Measure 3 (RM3) on the ballot in the nine Bay Area counties.{{cite web The expenditure plan for the project would allocate $4.45 billion to various transportation projects including funding for the San Francisco Downtown Rail Extension (now known as The Portal), fleet expansions for Muni Metro and BART, ferry service expansion, various road projects,{{cite report

Toll Bridge Seismic Retrofit Program

Since 1998, drivers on all Bay Area state-owned bridges have paid a $1 seismic surcharge to help finance a seismic retrofit program to strengthen and reinforce bridge structures and roadways on five of the bridges in the event of a major earthquake. On January 1, 2007, the seismic surcharge increased to $2 per vehicle, and then increased to $3 on July 1, 2010.

2021 Electronic Toll Collection System

In December 2020, The Bay Area Toll Authority announced that starting in 2021, a new all-electronic toll collection system would be launched at the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael, San Francisco-Oakland Bay and San Mateo-Hayward bridges. This would not affect the statements of bridge customers using FasTrak toll tags or a License Plate Account, but patrons not enrolled in these programs will now receive a monthly invoice for all toll bridge crossings.

References

References

1. "Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA)".
2. "The Dumbarton Express".
3. Cabanatuan, Michael. (March 4, 2004). "ELECTION 2004 / 8 transit projects to start rolling next year / BART retrofit, rail, buses, shuttles good to go". San Francisco Chronicle.
4. (9 May 2018). "SMART coming to Windsor, pending ballot measure".
5. Rodriguez, Joe Fitzgerald. (April 8, 2019). "Lawsuit seeking to block bridge toll hike fails". San Francisco Examiner.
6. Egelko, Bob. (June 29, 2020). "Measure raising Bay Area bridge tolls was legal, appeals court rules". San Francisco Chronicle.
7. Egelko, Bob. (October 14, 2020). "California Supreme Court revives challenge to $1 toll increase at seven Bay Area bridges". San Francisco Chronicle.
8. Cano, Ricardo. (January 25, 2023). "California Supreme Court rejects lawsuit against 2018 transit funding measure. These Bay Area projects will benefit". San Francisco Chronicle.
9. "Bay Area Toll Authority - Bridge Projects".
10. Commission, Bay Area Toll Authority; Metropolitan Transportation. "New Year Brings New Toll Collection System to Bay Area Bridges".