BART Ponders Raising Transbay Surcharge
Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, January 15, 2010
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...MNEF1BIDIJ.DTL
A BART train heads into the tunnel in West Oakland that leads to the Transbay Tube. That ride might cost more when bridge tolls go up in July, under a proposal to raise the surcharge to help close the transit district's budget gap. Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle
With the cost of crossing the Bay Bridge during peak commute hours likely to climb by $2 on July 1, some BART directors think the time is right to add a 10-cent surcharge to each trip through the Transbay Tube to help bail out the struggling transit agency.
BART directors Tom Blalock of Fremont and James Fang of San Francisco suggested tacking on the surcharge on trips beneath the bay during a three-hour discussion Thursday on how to close a $25 million gap for the current fiscal year.
BART fares for trips beneath the bay already include an 89-cent surcharge. The additional fee would generate about $4.7 million a year, said General Manager Dorothy Dugger.
"We know tolls are going up July 1," said Blalock, arguing that it would make sense to increase BART's transbay tariff simultaneously. "What if we made a pre-emptive strike? I don't want to see us start considering it after the toll increase takes place."
...