Supervisors approve placing measure to raise bridge tolls on ballot

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 27 authorized placing a measure on the June 5 ballot asking voters countywide to weigh in on Regional Measure 3.

The measure will be before voters in all nine Bay Area counties, asking them to approve toll increases on major Bay Area bridges to fund improvements for regional traffic problems.

To pass, the measure requires a simple majority of the total vote from all nine counties, Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman John Goodwin said.

The vote on the San Mateo County board to authorize the ballot measure was 4-0, with Supervisor Dave Pine absent, county spokeswoman Michelle Durand said.

If Bay Area voters approve the measure, tolls would rise by $1 in January 2019, another $1 in January 2022 and another in January 2025 for the seven bridges owned and operated by the Bay Area Toll Authority, including the Dumbarton and San Mateo-Hayward bridges. Each $1 increase would add about $125 million to the MTC’s coffers per year, assuming current traffic volume, commission documents say.

Tolls for the Golden Gate Bridge would not be affected, as that bridge is not overseen by the Bay Area Toll Authority.

The funding, the commission says, would pay for “urgently needed transportation improvements” including new rail cars for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system; extending BART to Silicon Valley; extending Caltrain into downtown San Francisco; increasing ferry service; and improving North Bay freeways and interchanges.

Drivers in carpools would continue to receive discounts of 50 percent during peak weekday commute hours. FasTrak users who cross two bridges during commute hours would receive a 50 percent discount on the dollar added to the toll by this measure, but only for the second bridge crossed in one day.

“Transportation is an issue of enormous concern and a very high priority for folks all around the Bay Area,” Mr. Goodwin said. “That’s true today, that was true a generation ago and I reckon it will be true a generation from now.

“There is no question that the last five, six or seven years of economic growth in the Bay Area, and the expansion of jobs, has really crystallized how urgent our transportation needs are,” he said.

Another tax

San Mateo County voters are likely to see another transportation tax measure on the November ballot: a bid to raise the sales tax by a half-cent.

This 30-year tax, the third half-cent sales tax for transportation in the county, would fund improvements in public transit, local streets and roads, bicycle and pedestrian facilities and high-tech transportation systems.

In the other direction, a statewide initiative in a signature-gathering phase for the November election aims to repeal Senate Bill 1 of 2017 meant to fund repairs and improvements to local roads, state highways, and public transportation.

Supervisor Warren Slocum, who represents the county at the transportation commission, said in a statement: “This year is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to define our transportation future for decades to come. Passage of the first two measures and rejection of the SB1 repeal would allow us to move forward with a significant local and regional plan” to reduce congestion on U.S. 101, increase ridership on Caltrain and connect major rail networks serving the Bay Area and beyond.