HOV, HOT, and BOL are commute options fundable by congestion charging

Today’s Examiner reports that: The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation board of directors voted Friday to approve a toll that would fluctuate based on the amount of traffic on the bridge, or so-called congestion pricing.

However in a disappointment to Supervisor McGoldrick “An amendment — introduced by San Rafael Mayor Al Boro and narrowly approved by the bridge’s board — specifically stipulates that no revenue generated from the variable toll increases would go toward rebuilding seismically unstable Doyle Drive.”

McGoldrick said that the amendment represented a failure of regional cooperation to use toll revenue for highway projects. However GGB traffic does more than just go down Doyle Drive. In San Mateo County cities like SSF double in population during the day while Redwood Shores sees a factor of twenty increase. And we lose bicycle access, on Ralston over 101, because traffic coming to Oracle and EA caused the interchange to be reconfigured, to allow more on ramps ramps from Oracle, so much so that the interchange has become the number one location for bicycle car collisions in Belmont. And all this associated pollution on the Peninsula could use some alternative choices like rapid bus lanes on the freeways. So what does Supervisor McGoldrick mean by regional cooperation?

On a much sillier note Bridge district Director Charles McGlashan said it’s unfair for bridge commuters to pay tolls to fund a state highway. Where would the bridge be without the highway? And what kind of fair alternative should bridge drivers be presented with? Reconfiguring one lane as a bus only lane would provide a real alternative on the Peninsula for the cost of paint. An HOT could fund additional transit options.

This is an example of how Caltrans and the CMAs like SFTA and CCAG uses regional ignorance to stay in their CarTrance.