Legislation is moving forward in Sacramento to add a third dollar to bridge tolls around the Bay Area (except on the Golden Gate Bridge). SB 916 (Perata) includes capital investment projects, funding for transit operations and technology, and expanded transportation planning for the region.
The capital investment projects, totalling $1.4 billion, include the San Francisco Transbay Terminal, seismic strengthening for BART's Transbay Tube, commuter rail service on the Dumbarton Rail Bridge, I-80/I-680 corridor improvements, East Contra Costa County rail, Tri-Valley rapid transit corridor improvements and the AC Transit Enhanced Bus project. Transit operating funds, projected at $1.6 billion over 40 years, would support the Water Transit Authority and Vallejo ferries, AC Transit, San Francisco MUNI, night-owl buses along BART corridors, Golden Gate Transit's Route 40, Dumbarton Rail, Napa VINE service to Vallejo and express bus service throughout the region. Money would also be allocated to TransLink operations and transit agency real-time transit information projects.
Under SB 916, if voters in the region approve the toll increase, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) would be required to adopt a regional transit connectivity plan by December 1, 2005, covering transit hubs, infrastructure improvements and regional standards intended to improve transit around the Bay Area. A regional rail plan would be required by July 1, 2006; it would be managed by Caltrain and BART, and would be guided by a policy committee consisting of appointees from all regional rail operators, MTC, and owners of standard gauge rail. SB 916 also requires agencies participating in TransLink to develop an integrated fare program by July 1, 2007 for "regional rapid transit trips" funded by the toll increase.
The bill has changed since it was shaped by a regional task force (see February/March 2003), and may change again as the bill moves through the legislative process. However, with continuing support from local transportation agencies, the bill is likely to succeed in some form, placing the final decision before Bay Area voters in March 2004.