The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District (District) Board of Directors voted on Friday, March 22, 2024, to approve a new five-year toll program at the Golden Gate Bridge that will provide funding for bridge operations and maintenance and bus and ferry transit services. The new toll program will go into effect on July 1, 2024, and will increase tolls for most customers by $0.50 per year over the next five years.
The District faces a $220 million five-year shortfall based on current transit service levels and the ongoing costs to maintain and protect the Golden Gate Bridge. Bridge tolls supply the majority of the District’s revenue, and the District does not receive any dedicated state or local tax revenues. Roughly two-thirds of annual toll revenue is used to maintain and operate the Golden Gate Bridge, with the remaining third used to operate Golden Gate bus and ferry transit services. The new toll program will generate approximately $139 million over the next five years, or a little more than half of the projected $220 million shortfall.
The new toll rates over the five-year program are below.
The toll rate will remain the lowest for FasTrak customers, who comprise the vast majority of Golden Gate Bridge drivers. Pay-As-You-Go customers pay either in advance of their trip or shortly after and can use either a cash payment network or pay their toll online. Invoice customers are those who choose to pay the bill they receive in the mail after a crossing.
More information about the toll program is available in the staff report of the March 21, 2024, Finance-Auditing Committee. Presentation materials and virtual open house recordings are also available here.