State Senate to vote on toll ban

Officials have considered charge for bikers, walkers

By Bonnie Eslinger, S.F.Examiner
Sunday, September 4, 2005

Legislation that would prohibit charging bicyclists or pedestrians a toll to cross any public bridge or roadway in California — including the Golden Gate Bridge — is headed to the state Senate for a vote on Tuesday.

Although AB 748 was authored by Lois Wolk, a state representative from Davis, San Francisco Assemblymen Mark Leno and Leland Yee have thrown their support behind the legislation as a pre-emptive strike against several proposals, dating back to 2002, to charge a $1 toll on the Golden Gate Bridge to walk or bike across its 1.7-mile span.

On Sunday, Leno, Yee, Wolk and bike advocates held an outdoor press conference, with the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop, to say that Californians should be encouraged to be physically active, not discouraged.

Getting people "out of their cars" is good for their health, but also good for the environment and the economy, Leno said.

Lee said he understood "the tremendous pressure that is being put on the Golden Gate Bridge board to try and balance this budget," but that a toll on pedestrians and bicyclists was the wrong solution.

Although the board of directors of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District voted to oppose AB 748 in May, the idea of levying a fee on bicyclists and pedestrians as a way to balance the budget has been discussed "conceptually only," according to Golden Gate Bridge spokeswoman Mary Currie.

"It's on a list of many things on a menu," Currie said. "It has not yet been proposed for analysis or the public review process."

Nonetheless, the California Bike Coalition has also rallied its members behind AB 748, as a preventative measure.

Thousands of bicyclists cross the Golden Gate Bridge each day for recreation and commuting — 1,500 per day on the average weekday and more on the weekend, about 4,800 per day — according to the Bike Coalition.

San Franciscan Jenn Strauss, a food stylist riding her bike through Crissy Field on Sunday, said although she drives across the Golden Gate Bridge more than she bikes it, she is against a fee for cyclists to cross.

"What kind of wear and tear am I putting on the bridge as a cyclist?" she said.

Canadian tourists Pamela Hoeppner and Cory Hryhorczlik — riding a rented tandem bicycle — said they would reconsider going over the bridge if there was a fee.

"We're already paying for the bike rental and for parking the car," Hoeppner said. "San Francisco's too expensive as it is."