The elegant span that draws visitors from all over the world is no longer a destination for death.
Since completion of a steel net under the Golden Gate Bridge in January, reported suicides are down more than 80%, from an average of 15 to 20 in a six-month period to three, according to newly released data. Suicide attempts also have declined, from about 150 over six months to 56 through June, a more than 60% decrease.
The once-controversial $224 million project is now a case study in suicide prevention, lending its lessons to other barrier-building campaigns around the United States, Canada and England.
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“We’re expanding, not disbanding,” said Paul Muller, president and co-founder of the Bridge Rail Foundation, created in 2006 with a mission of ending suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge.
“We’re sharing our stories with communities that are facing a similar problem,” said Muller, advising others on how to obtain funding, navigate government bureaucracies, gain regulatory approval and develop a public campaign through community organizing. Families play an essential role, he said, reminding officials of their tremendous losses.
About 2,000 people are known to have died by jumping off the bridge, although the true tally is likely higher.
On the outskirts of Nashville, Trish Merelo and other survivors of suicide loss sought to build a barrier at the Natchez Trace Bridge, but layers upon layers of bureaucratic tape in Tennessee seemed to halt their mission at every step.
When she discovered the Bridge Rail Foundation, “It was like a lifeline,” she said. “Their success, on the granddaddy of all bridges, was such a sign of hope for the rest of us.”
The advice of the Bay Area group helped the Tennessee coalition build a strategy, she said, leading to last year’s construction of protective fencing on the 155-foot high concrete arch bridge that crosses a roadway and wooded valley, where 42 have ended their lives since 2000.
At the Coronado Bridge in San Diego, where more than 400 people have ended their lives, the Bridge Rail Foundation’s wisdom “has been integral to helping us get things done down here,” said Rhonda Haiston, co-founder of the Coronado San Diego Bridge Collaborative for Suicide Prevention. Funding is now authorized to install cables and netting, with construction starting in 2027.
Runners and walkers traverse the Coronado Bridge in San Diego during the 37th Annual Bay Bridge Run/Walk on Sunday, May 19, 2024. The Coronado Bridge, where more than 400 people have ended their lives, will install suicide prevention cables and netting, with construction starting in 2027. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker for The SD Union-Tribune)
In Palo Alto, where clusters of teens took their own lives during the 2008-09 and 2014-15 school years on the Caltrain tracks that traverse the city, the partnership of the Bridge Rail Foundation “has been crucial … recommending best practices, sharing advocacy strategies, suggesting funding sources for our fencing and other safety measures.” said Stanford University psychiatry professor Dr. Shashank Joshi, a leader in Project Safety Net, a community coalition to boost youth mental health.
Calls for help have also come in from Rhode Island, Wisconsin. Minnesota, Colorado, Massachusetts, Canada and England, said Muller.
The Golden Gate Bridge was once one of the world’s leading suicide destinations. When the bridge was built in 1937, chief engineer Joseph Strauss was convinced that none would end their lives on the bridge. Its railings and security system would make suicides impossible, he said.
Within three months, despondent World War I veteran Harold Wobber leaped to his death, proving Strauss wrong.
Other deaths included Roy Raymond, the founder of Victoria’s Secret; the eldest son of former journalist, White House aide and California U.S. Sen. Pierre Salinger; and a Fremont man distraught over a breakup with his wife, who threw his 3-year-old daughter over the side, then followed her down.
For decades, decision-makers argued over the effectiveness, aesthetics, practicality and cost of erecting a barrier on the iconic bridge, famed for its orange-red color and ethereal fog.
Opponents argued that people intent on ending their lives would simply find another way. But research by UC Berkeley professor Richard Seiden found that 94% of people who had been persuaded not to jump were still alive or had died of natural causes.
They worried that the bridge would lose its famed beauty. In response, the nets were suspended about 20 feet below the span. Blending into the steelwork, the nets are nearly invisible from a distance.
Suicide barrier netting hangs below the side of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito, Calif., on Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
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Some engineers warned that the extra weight could cause the massive span to tip over in a strong wind. In response, the bridge district installed equipment to stabilize the roadway.
Funding proved a major obstacle. But a Bay Area congressional delegation — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Lynn Woolsey — added provisions to a 2014 highway and transit bill that allowed federal funds to be used for safety barriers and nets. Later support came from Caltrans, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Golden Gate Bridge Board.
There was fierce criticism over its climbing price tag: The initial estimate was $142 million. Critics said the money was better used to expand therapeutic services and crisis intervention.
Last week, in a ceremony commemorating the completion of the project, Pelosi praised the investment.
“How much money is too much money to save lives?” asked Pelosi, who helped the Golden Gate Bridge district secure federal funding for the project. “We just had to reject that attitude.”
Jumping off the bridge no longer holds a romantic appeal, said former Marin County Coroner Ken Holmes, who became a stalwart proponent of a deterrent after handling hundreds of bridge deaths.
The nets, which the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District says were modeled on similar systems around the world, aren’t soft and springy, like a circus net. The district warns that jumping into the net, 20 feet down, will result in significant bruises, sprains and possibly broken bones.
On average, 30 people died every year on the bridge. This tragic toll began to decline in 2023, while the net was still under construction, with 14 confirmed suicides.
Of this year’s deaths, two of the three happened on a section where the netting was not yet complete, said Holmes.
“We know that it’s not going to stop every single person,” he said. “It’s a deterrent, not a barrier.”
“But we’re losing far fewer people,” he said. “That was the goal, and it is an incredible success.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.
