Voter Guide: Bridge toll hike: bucks for Bay Area transportation Voter Guide: Bridge toll hike: bucks for Bay Area transportation (February 18, 2004)

** Commuter rail across the Dumbarton railroad bridge would get $135 million.

By Marion Softky
Almanac Staff Writer

With federal and state transportation budgets squeezing down, one of the few hopes for getting more money to relieve commuter clogs across the Bay lies in Regional Measure 2 on the March 2 ballot.

If RM-2 passes in the nine Bay Area counties, tolls on seven state-owned bridges around the Bay Area will rise from $2 to $3 on July 1. As each driver pays $1 more, $125 million a year of new money will flow into projects to relieve traffic congestion in corridors around the bridges.

The Golden Gate Bridge is not included. It is owned and operated by an independent district; its toll is already $5.

The money will be allocated to a variety of traffic-relieving projects spelled out in a Regional Traffic Relief Plan prepared under the auspices of state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland.

Projects include BART extensions in the East Bay, regional express bus service, a new bore through the Caldecott Tunnel in Berkeley, and seismic strengthening of the BART tube under the Bay. The program includes $84 million for new ferries that could serve South San Francisco and Redwood City as well as San Francisco and East Bay ports.

A key project for the Peninsula would be $135 million to rebuild the old Dumbarton railroad bridge, and start commuter rail service between the Peninsula and the East Bay. This would allow connections to Caltrain on the west, and BART and Amtrak lines on the east. The measure would also allocate $5.5 million a year to operate the new service.

Mainline Caltrain service would benefit by the $150 million set for building a new Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco. This would include the long-cherished goal of extending Caltrain from its present terminus into downtown.

Other projects benefiting Peninsula travelers would include regional express buses, TransLink tickets good for all systems, and even access improvements for bicycles and pedestrians.

Proponents warn the measure is critical because traffic congestion in the Bay Area is projected to increase by 250 percent in the next 20 years. They include: state senators Byron Sher and Jackie Speier; Deberah Bringelson, president and CEO of Samceda, a business group; Eva Alexis, president of the League of Women Voters of the Bay Area; Kenneth Ryan of the Sierra Club; Shelley Kessler of the San Mateo County Central Labor Council; Lennie Roberts of the Committee for Green Foothills; and Supervisor Mike Nevin.

Two opponents signed the opposition arguments: Karen Kennedy of the e-Minutemen Organization of San Mateo; and Kenneth Hambrick of the Alliance of Contra Costa Taxpayers. They argue that taxes are high enough already to accommodate reasonable needs.

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