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Toll increases on Bay Area bridges
It will cost more to drive across the Bay Area's bridges.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Driving on Bay Area bridges will cost nearly $11 in the next five years.
The Bay Area Toll Authority on Wednesday voted to approve toll increases on the seven state-run bridges.
The increase will be phased in during a five-year period starting from Jan. 1, 2026, and covers the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges.
The current bridge toll for most vehicles is $7 and in the new year it will be $8.
Tolls for all regular two-axle cars and trucks will increase to $8.50 on Jan. 1, 2026.
Tolls for customers who pay with FasTrak tags will then rise to $9 in 2027; to $9.50 in 2028; to $10 in 2029; and then to $10.50 in 2030.
The newly approved toll hike is separate from the $3 increase approved by Bay Area voters in 2018.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission said the higher tolls are needed to pay for bridge maintenance.
"This is just a part of life that we can't buy this huge piece of infrastructure and expect it to not need to be cared for," MTC Commissioner Victoria Fleming said at the meeting.
Critics call the toll hikes premature and demand more transparent accounting.
The toll increase does not include the privately run Golden Gate Bridge, which raised tolls in July.