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| Saturday, February 21, 12:16:19am | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: Senate Bill 916authored by Senate Majority Leader Don Perata, D-Oakland,likely will go before voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Marin, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Solano counties in March. | |
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Author: The Senate Transportation Committee approved the bill by Senate Majority Leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, on a 7-2 vote30/4/03 |
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Date Posted: Friday, May 02, 03:52:39am In reply to: Visa Cash Solution for Public Transportation Bill Powell San Francisco CA USALast modified: 01/24/2001 06:07:41 PM 's message, "San Francisco--seperate file." on Saturday, April 05, 01:49:34am http://www.theargusonline.com/Stories/0,1413,83~1971~1362371,00.html ----------------------------------------------------------- Proposed toll hike aids BART ----------------------------------------------------------- Bill would allow voters to raise Bay Area bridge tolls $1 By Sean R. Cabibi, STAFF WRITER FREMONT -- BART's extension to San Jose and the Dumbarton rail project would receive funding boosts under an East Bay lawmaker's plan to raise Bay Area bridge tolls a buck, from $2 to $3. "This, I believe, is the right direction," Fremont BART Director Tom Blalock said Wednesday. "Raising tolls aren't that popular, but when people see the amount of projects we complete with that extra dollar, I think there will be overwhelming support." ----------------------------------------------------------- Senate Bill 916, authored by Senate Majority Leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, likely will go before voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Marin, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Solano counties in March. ----------------------------------------------------------- If approved by a simple majority, it would provide an extra $140 million annually to add trains, buses and ferries and pay for public transit projects to reduce traffic on the bridges. ----------------------------------------------------------- The toll hike -- which would exclude the Golden Gate Bridge -- would take effect July 1, 2004. ----------------------------------------------------------- OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION 5/2/2003 - Parents fear virus will show up at school - Juvenile arrested after joy ride - Obituaries: Mary Reyes Moran loved being with her grandchildren - Newark man sentenced for tax evasion - Bill could help Ohlone budget - Fremont pioneer Roy Dean dies at 92 - Cinco de Mayo goes dry Mayo in Newark - Marine Science Institute takes kids on sea voyage - Feds to study protecting shrimp - Outside adventure just another day at the office - Diabetes rate for Latinos on the rise - Ex-Quik Stop Markets president dies at age 63 - Questions swirl around fate of Peterson home - Valley home to high rates of crowding ----------------------------------------------------------- Half of the new revenue would go to run more transit service and half would be used for new mass-transit construction, eventually including $45 million to help extend BART to San Jose and $135 million to rebuild the Dumbarton rail -- an abandoned 93-year-old trestle bridge extending from Newark to East Palo Alto, just south of the Dumbarton Bridge. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Dumbarton rail project also could receive as much as $5.5 million annually for operation costs. ----------------------------------------------------------- BART's $3.7 billion, 21-mile extension to San Jose -- which officials hoped would be completed by 2012 -- is expected to be delayed at least two years, and possibly up to eight years, due to the economic downturn, Santa Clara Valley Transportation officials said. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Dumbarton rail project -- estimated to cost as much as $286 million -- is languishing, said Jayme Maltbie, spokeswoman for Caltrain, which is expected to operate the trains. ----------------------------------------------------------- Although Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties have authorized some funding from taxes to repair the bridge, the operations costs have not been worked out, she said. ----------------------------------------------------------- "(A toll hike) isn't going to pay for everything, but it would be a big help in getting these needed projects completed," Blalock said. "Especially now. It may be the best way to get projects completed and improve transit systems with minimal impact." ----------------------------------------------------------- The hike likely would be the last "for a very long time," said Ezra Rapport, spokesman for Perata. ----------------------------------------------------------- "This is to improve existing transit and investments in transit," he said. "Future increases are not being planned." ----------------------------------------------------------- The system will not move toward one similar to New York City's, where high bridge tolls are used to subsidize public transit fares, Rapport said. ----------------------------------------------------------- "The Bay Area is not built in a way where that type of system is a possibility," he said. "We cannot price people into public transit here because of the way the area is laid out." ----------------------------------------------------------- The New York City Subway charges $1.50 per trip, regardless of distance, but averages $7 for bridge tolls, subway officials said. ----------------------------------------------------------- BART -- which is facing a $38 million budget deficit -- is considering another 10 percent fare hike. BART last raised its fares in June 2002. ----------------------------------------------------------- Staff writer Sean R. Cabibi covers transportation and Ohlone College for The Argus. He can be reached at (510) 353-7014 or at scabibi@angnewspapers.com . ----------------------------------------------------------- Toll increase 'a step closer' Voters will be ultimate decision-makers for By Steve Geissinger - SACRAMENTO BUREAU SACRAMENTO -- An East Bay lawmaker's plan to raise Bay Area bridge tolls to $3 and use the extra money to bolster mass transit in the region cleared an important first legislative hurdle Tuesday. The Senate Transportation Committee approved the bill by Senate Majority Leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, on a 7-2 vote, sending it toward what supporters believe will be swift legislative approval and a judg-ment day before voters in seven Bay Area counties next March. ----------------------------------------------------------- "Today's vote brings us a step closer to solving Bay Area gridlock," Perata said. "For the first time since the creation of BART, we're proposing dramatic new choices for Bay Area commuters." ----------------------------------------------------------- Boosting bridge tolls a dollar to $3 on July 1, 2004, on the seven state-owned bridges in the Bay Area would raise an additional $140 million a year. ----------------------------------------------------------- [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| A universal fare card for the Bay area Potentially the TransLink® program can connect 21 different transit agencies. | By Emily PattersonMay 2002 | Friday, May 02, 05:55:03am |