The Foster City Council has come out against a proposed state bill that would raise tolls on Bay Area bridges by $1.50, citing the unfair burden it places on drivers.
At its Aug. 7 meeting, the council directed staff to draft a letter opposing Senate Bill 532, which the council felt would penalize workers who have no choice but to commute from long distances due to the cost of living. SB 532 from state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, will temporarily raise tolls on seven state-owned bridges in the Bay Area by $1.50 for five years to help public transit agencies. Councilmember Sam Hindi said he had spoken to people who were worried about taking BART due to safety and cleanliness concerns and felt the public transit system in California has already received lots of money in state funding. He pointed out it was unfair that people who have to drive to work every day would be hurt versus people who have the luxury of working remotely.
“This really will be a taxation on people who are needing money the most and are really in the worst position to pay more taxes,” Hindi said.
The seven bridges are the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Dumbarton Bridge, Carquinez Bridge, Benicia-Martinez Bridge and Antioch Bridge. The bill is called the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Bay Area Public Transportation Emergency Act and would generate around $180 million annually over five years. The bill would add more funding for public transportation to prevent service cuts and improve safety and cleanliness. The current $7 toll for those bridges is also slated to rise $1 on Jan. 1, 2025, through Regional Measure 3 passed in 2017. Many transit agencies saw a drop in ridership during the pandemic that has not fully recovered due to new work habits, with agencies like BART and Caltrain hit particularly hard and still looking for solutions.
According to a city staff report, the money would go to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to distribute. The regional transit authority is responsible for transportation planning and financing for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. The funds would only go to a transit operator after it determines the funds are necessary to avoid service cuts.
Councilmember Art Kiesel argued it was a form of extortion to expect people to either pay for more tolls or use public transportation, with some on the council concerned workers were having to pay to prop up BART and other San Francisco transit agencies. According to the BART website, the agency relies on federal emergency funds to sustain operations, but funding will run out in March 2025. After that, BART could face deficits of around $300 million a year without temporary state funding, according to the website.
“It’s not our fault or any citizen’s fault that BART has not gotten its act together,” Kiesel said.
SB 523 is currently in the State Assembly Appropriations Committee and would need approval from the full Assembly. The council unanimously voted to send the letter.
So glad to see more and more Democrats opposing this toll tax. And glad to see people are realizing this toll increase will be siphoned off to subsidize public transportation agencies that are doing next to nothing to control their costs. The bigger question is whether people pushing for this toll increase will attempt to “persuade” Foster City, and other jurisdictions, into supporting the toll tax by giving them a piece of the pie. Maybe if FC gets more money, they can hire another quarter $million outfit for more guidance on how to address their geese poop problem.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(2) comments
So glad to see more and more Democrats opposing this toll tax. And glad to see people are realizing this toll increase will be siphoned off to subsidize public transportation agencies that are doing next to nothing to control their costs. The bigger question is whether people pushing for this toll increase will attempt to “persuade” Foster City, and other jurisdictions, into supporting the toll tax by giving them a piece of the pie. Maybe if FC gets more money, they can hire another quarter $million outfit for more guidance on how to address their geese poop problem.
There is no such thing as a temporary tax. After 3 or 4 years they will extend it another 30 years and say "it is not a new tax".
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.