Aug 12, 2008 9:26 am US/Pacific
GG Bridge Peak Toll Plan Shifts To Parking Meters
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
There will be no "congestion-based" toll on the Golden Gate Bridge. After a month of discussion with federal officials, local transit planners turned it down.
The idea of charging different tolls at different times, based on the traffic load, was one of the conditions that came with $158 million grant for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant also included money to replace the seismically unstable Doyle Drive, and synchronize traffic signals at busy spots in the city.
The feds were pushing for a congestion toll that could've been as high as $7, which would help fund those projects.
Bridge district directors finally dropped the idea, but instead struck a deal to move the congestion concept to parking meters on the route to the bridge. That includes Lombard and Van Ness. The idea is that the price hike would encourage drivers to use parking lots and garages to cut down on congestion, cars circling, and to raise some money.
Officials say that the amount raised won't even be close to enough for a new Doyle Drive.
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