Vote delayed on Treasure Island tolls

San Francisco supervisors on Tuesday delayed voting on whether to charge tolls of up to $3.50 to enter and exit Treasure Island — a plan that infuriated residents and merchants, even though transit officials said it was necessary to prevent gridlock on the Bay Bridge.

The decision by the Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency — also known as the Board of Supervisors — came as the city braces for a transformation on the small, man-made patch of former Navy barracks, potholed roads and palm-lined shores. A development project that broke ground two years ago is expected to bring 8,000 new homes to the island, along with shops, sports complexes and a ferry terminal. It would raise the population from 1,800 residents to 24,000 anticipated by 2035.

That’s a bounty for San Francisco and a poten-

tial disaster for the bridge, which is already choked with cars and could come to a virtual standstill once the island’s population swells. So, staff at the county Transportation Authority devised a form of congestion pricing to intervene.

Residents balked. Some feared the tolls would — in the words of resident Mark Connors — “effectively turn our neighborhood into a gated community.”

“What will you do next — build a fence around North Beach?” asked Christoph Oppermann, president of the Yerba Buena Island Residents Association.

Merchants said the tolls would chase customers and workers away.

Treasure Island Wines owner Jim Mirowsky said that some of his employees had already vowed to leave if a toll were implemented.

MeeSun Boice, coowner of MerSea restaurant, feared she would have to cover the toll cost — $7 round trip — for each of her 45 employees. That adds up to $112,000 a year — “and I’m not even making that much of a profit.”

Some residents said they cannot take mass transit on a day-to-day basis, either because they lug heavy equipment for work, or doubt Muni’s ability to get them to and from their jobs on time.

The issue provoked such a visceral reaction that a couple of speakers

Tolls “effectively would turn our neighborhood into a gated community.” Resident Mark Connors

shouted at the supervisors, and one woman broke down in sobs while delivering her testimony.

Transportation Authority officials described the tolls as a tool to balance population growth with a functioning bridge. Their goal: get people out of cars and generate enough funding for a robust public transit system. The new neighborhood will only thrive if half the trips going on or off the island are made on transit, said Rachel Hiatt, the authority’s principal transportation planner.

Yet authority staff also expressed sympathy for people who drive on and off the island throughout the day to get to work, run errands or take children to child care.

“And we get it — people need to move around, and we’re sensitive to that,” said Transportation Authority spokesman Eric Young, describing the toll proposal in a recent interview with The Chronicle.

Last month the authority revised its plan, hoping to diminish the impact on residents and shift the burden to tourists. To that end, officials lowered off-peak tolls from $2 to $1 on weekdays and raised weekend tolls from $1 to $2. The authority offered a $250$300 monthly stipend for island residents, as well as a round-trip toll credit for every 10 one-way transit rides taken to and from the island.

But that wasn’t enough to mollify critics of the plan or the supervisors, who called for more studies and community outreach.

Tuesday’s postponement didn’t altogether shut the door on the toll idea. Supervisor Jane Kim, who chairs the Treasure Island board, said she is open to trying congestion pricing, especially if it doesn’t solely apply to one neighborhood. Treasure Island is particularly delicate territory because it currently houses low-income families, many of whom fear the new development will usher in gentrification.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said he is “leery of giving up” on tolls as a potential strategy, and that he’s confident the authority can find a way to apply them fairly.

“There isn’t going to be the appetite on this board to impact low-income people,” he said, referring to the Board of Supervisors.

In addition to tolls, officials proposed ramping up bus service, running ferries from a new terminal on the western shoreline, charging for parking and building new bicycle paths.