Feeling impact of pandemic on our bridge tolls

It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the Golden Gate Bridge board has approved the plan to raise bridge tolls.

Starting July 1, tolls will be 50 cents higher, boosting them to $10.25 for two-axle vehicles.

FasTrak customers, which account for more than 80% of the bridge's traffic, will go up to $9.25.

The toll increase is part of a five-year plan that will increase tolls 50 cents per year through 2028.

In July 2028, tolls will rise to $11.25 for FasTrak users.

District leaders say they didn't have many options, other than reducing bus and ferry service.

The district's financial quandary is the result of the pandemic, which saw the steady flow of traffic dwindle to a few “essential” workers.

Its commuter traffic is still down about 30% from prepandemic numbers.

That's a $25 million to $30 million drop in annual revenue. Those motorists paying tolls to drive across the bridge are not only paying for maintaining and managing the iconic span, but those tolls also subsidize the district's bus and ferry riders' fares.

Roughly one-third of every toll dollar goes toward supporting the district's transit system, where ridership is also lagging due to the pandemic.

During the peak years of the pandemic, public transit systems survived on emergency federal funding, but that help has ended.

The reality facing the district, as General Manager Denis Mulligan frames it, is how long it's going to take for tollpaying commuter traffic to bounce back.

The growing amount of office vacancies in downtown San Francisco doesn't offer much short-term promise.

The district's history is marked with prolonged and heated debates over toll increases, but there has been relatively little public protest in recent years.

That may be because of the district's shift to smaller yearly increases stretched over four to five years. Or, it could be a reflection of the move to electronic tolls, where toll-paying motorists don't have to dig out cash to hand to toll-takers or buy toll-ticket books.

Also, in recent years, Bay Area voters have approved toll increases for the bay's state-run bridges to help pay for regional transportation and transit improvements.

Even with approval of four years of 50-cent increases, the new revenue does not completely resolve the district's projected $220 million budget deficit, which includes significant capital investments such as continued seismic-retrofit work and the construction of a new transit center in downtown San Rafael.

The five-year toll increase is projected to raise $139 million over five years, leaving a sizable fiscal challenge for the district.

Still, two of the 12 directors opposed the four-year plan, with one board member advocating the annual increases be only 40 cents.

What difference is a dime is going to make when considering tolls of more than $9 or $10?

No one expects tolls to go down, but the district's premise that a significant downturn in the bridge's commuter traffic is driving this increase, should raise questions about future increases if and when that traffic is restored to pre-pandemic levels.

Also, what if the toll increases create a situation of diminishing return, where more motorists opt to avoid jobs that involve driving to San Francisco because tolls are taking a bigger bite out of their household budget?

In four years, won't the district's leadership be back, recommending another five-year plan of toll hikes?

That's probably a good bet, too.