Bay Area drivers taking one of the seven bridges in the region will have to pay $1 more for their commute starting on Jan. 1, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
The hike at the beginning of 2025 will be the third and last increase — though more increases could come in the future — after voters approved Regional Measure 3 in June 2018 and state Senate Bill 595 passed the California Legislature in 2017. The first increase took effect on Jan. 1, 2019, and the second increase was implemented in Jan. 1, 2022. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Two-axle cars and trucks and motorcycles will have to pay $8 instead of $7 next year while crossing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay, Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael, and San Mateo-Hayward bridges. The Golden Gate Bridge operates on its own toll schedule and increased its tolls earlier this year.
Vehicles with three or more axles will also have to pay $1 more for crossing these bridges. Vehicles with three axles will have to pay $18; those with four axles will have to pay $23; those with five axles will have to pay $28, those with six axles will have to pay $33; and vehicles with seven or more axles will have to pay $38.
The increases are not the only hikes that drivers may face in the next several years: The Bay Area Toll Authority is considering tolls that could go as high as $11.50 for two-axle vehicles by the year 2030.
The Regional Measure 3 expenditure plan includes several improvements to freeways and public transportation. The projects include improvements to Highway 37 in the North Bay, an improved connection between northbound U.S. 101 and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in Marin County, upgrades to the Dumbarton Bridge corridor and freeway interchange improvements in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties.
The money will also be used to purchase of more new BART cars and fund the extension of the BART system from Berryessa to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara, the extension of the Caltrain corridor to the Salesforce Transit Center in downtown San Francisco and the extension of the SMART rail system to Windsor and Healdsburg in Sonoma County. Finally, the funds will also be provided to the San Francisco Bay Ferry service and provide more frequent transbay bus service.
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Discounts will still be applied to motorcycles, qualifying carpools, qualifying clean-air vehicles crossing any of the state-owned toll bridges and two-axle vehicles crossing more than one bridge during weekday commute hours from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The discounted toll for motorcycles and qualifying carpools and clean-air vehicles crossing these bridges on peak-commute hours on weekdays will increase to $4 from the current cost of $3.50. Qualifying drivers must use FasTrak to pay their tolls electronically and use a designated carpool lane at each toll plaza to qualify for the discount.
Drivers crossing more than one toll bridge during the same weekday commute hours will be eligible for a 50-cent discount. The discount is applied to their second toll crossing of the day. Any carpools, motorcycles and qualifying clean-air vehicles making a second peak-period toll crossing in one day will also receive an additional 25-cent discount.
New FasTrak customers can obtain toll tags at Costco and select Walgreens stores in Northern California. Customers can also enroll and register online on the FasTrak website or by phone by calling 1-877-229-8655 or by calling 511 and asking for “FasTrak” at the first prompt, or go in person to the FasTrak customer service center at 375 Beale St. in San Francisco.
