Golden Gate Bridge tolls, fares set to increase

Golden Gate Bridge tolls will rise on Monday and continue to go up for the next four years.

The 50-cent hike, which will repeat every year through 2028, is part of a plan to address a projected $220 million budget deficit over the next five years, according to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.

The rate increase is expected to narrow that gap by providing about $139 million of new revenue, but there will still be a shortfall.

Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, a spokesperson for the district, said the increase will help the district keep pace with the rising cost of goods and services and to provide essential maintenance on the bridge.

“Bridge tolls are our primary source of revenue, and, unlike most other transit agencies, the bridge district receives no dedicated state or local tax funding,” he said. “This makes toll revenues especially important for us to be able to provide our services.”

Cosulich-Schwartz said that because of inflation, the costs to operate services go up a little bit every year. This includes costs for staff, paint and steel for the bridge, and fuel and repairs for buses and ferries.

On Monday, the tolls for two-axle vehicles increases to $10.25. Tolls for FasTrak customers, who make up the majority of bridge motorists, will be $9.25. For drivers who have a “pay as you go” account, which includes drivers who register their license plates or set up a one-time payment through the district, the toll will be $9.50.

Bus and ferry fares are also set to increase 25 cents on Monday. Discount fare programs will remain in effect for Clipper users, seniors, youths, people with disabilities and low-income riders who participate in the Clipper START program. Marin local bus fares and special event ferry fares will not increase.

More information on tolls and fares is at goldengate.org.

District staffers said Friday they need to draw $34.4 million from reserves to balance the budget for fiscal year 2024-25, which also starts Monday. Reserves are generally saved for emergencies and to pay for capital projects.

Although the district received $287.9 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds in 2020, the money has run out, Denis Mulligan, general manager of the district, said ahead of the approval. The district board approved the $318.7 million budget.

“It is a negative budget,” Mulligan said. “We have a budget that is underwater.”

Mulligan said staff was comfortable tapping into the reserves because the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area planning agency, has promised to provide significant funding over the next two years.

Emergency operations funding provided by Senate Bill 125 tentatively earmarks $2.8 million for the coming fiscal year and $38.2 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year, pending state approval.

The Golden Gate district’s budget includes $272.6 million for operations, which is 8.5% higher than the budget approved last year.

The budget also includes a $46.1 million capital improvements plan. Of that, $26.1 million is coming from the district reserves.

Joe Wire, the district auditor-controller, told the finance committee this week that there are 118 vacancies in the budget, 94 of which are bus drivers.

The budget provides funding for similar levels of service as last year, but allows the district to add bus service if demand grows, he said.

“We’re keeping them on the books because the idea that service would come back, we would then be able to fund them as service grows,” Wire said.

A group of bus operators told the board of directors this week that they didn’t like the direction the district is headed.

Robert Kauffman, a bus driver, said bus service seems to be the first hit with cuts.

“Every turn, things are chipped away,” Kauffman said. “At every turn, they come after us.”

“In my 23 years here at Golden Gate, I have seen your operators, time after time, forced to take the lion’s share of the burden to alleviate the financial situation that the district is battling,” bus operator David Herrera said.

Mulligan said the budget does not include any cuts to salaries.

“We’re not demoting anybody but we are reducing the amount of overtime that is available,” Mulligan said.

A presentation on bus driver pay is expected to be presented to the finance committee next month, Mulligan said.