Cashless tolling system still needs some improvements

Q

The no-cash toll collection on Bay Area bridges seems to be working well. Why don’t they make that permanent? They were planning on doing that some time, anyway.

— David Ogilvie, South San Francisco

A

The cashless tolling system in place since March 21 to protect toll collectors from COVID-19 has worked reasonably well in the low-traffic environment. But it has capacity constraints that already are showing strain as bridge traffic increases.

The biggest and most complicated of these is at the FasTrak service center, where there is an increased workload to process tolls for former cash payers. Nearly 2 million no-penalty notices have been sent out.

This is costly. The pertransaction cost for a FasTrak toll crossing is 16 cents but jumps to 40 cents for a pay-by-plate transaction and 48 cents for each cash-paid transaction.

What’s in the works to replace the no-penalty notices is a new invoicing system. But this will take time to set up. So as traffic continues to increase as shelterin-place restrictions are gradually reduced, it’s quite likely that toll collectors may be returning to the booths before transitioning to an all-electronic toll system.

Q

Also, what about plans for eventually removing the toll booths?

— David Ogilvie

A

The plan to remove the toll booths and move to open-road tolling, like at the far left side of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge plaza, is perhaps five years away.

Q

I will not get onto BART, a bus, a train or a plane until a vaccine is proven effective, and I can get vaccinated. That goes for dining in restaurants, shopping for pleasure, and so on.

— John Gruver

A

Hope to see you on BART in a couple of years.

Q

Has there been any talk about extending the expiration on the HOV stickers for electric cars? Since so many cars have been off the road anyway, it’d be a nice perk for those with the stickers to get an extra year, because they didn’t drive much in the express lanes this year. Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, this is small potatoes, but I was curious.

— Dave Van Tassell, San Jose

A

Never say never. As the expiration date nears in a couple of years, there is certain to be talk of extending carpool perks. On the flip side, electric cars will be able to use express lanes for a discount.

Q

On March 5, I visited the DMV to get my Real ID. To this date, I haven’t received my new license. Is this the waiting time now with the shutdowns?

—JudyE., Half Moon Bay

A

Yes.

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