Comment on Golden Gate Bridge district considers toll hikes

The district is also facing a projected $142 million shortfall over the next few years, despite eliminating toll takers and ferry boat ticket agents, trimming low ridership Golden Gate Transit runs, and raising bus and ferry fares. Currently, half of all bridge tolls are used to operate transit services, which the district has been running since 1969, when the state Legislature allowed it to expand its operations beyond the bridge. The district's 2003 mission statement, for example, calls for it to provide reliable transportation services and operations for customers within the Highway 101 corridor. In the future, however, toll increases may be smaller, but much more frequent. Since drivers who pay electronically don't have to fumble for change, it is easier for the district to regularly boost tolls by 25 cents, 50 cents or even some different number, much as bus fares have been increased all but one year since 1998.