The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge will be the first in the Bay Area to eliminate toll booths entirely in favor of open-road tolling using sensors.
A Bay Area bridge is set to become the region’s first open-road tolling bridge as Cantrans prepares to remove obsolete toll booths from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge this month, reports Adrian Rodriguez in The Mercury News.
“The project on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge will be the first in a $318 million program to transition all seven state-owned bridges in the Bay Area to open-road tolling,” Rodriguez explains. The toll booths have not been in use since 2020, when the Metropolitan Transportation Commission-Bay Area Toll Authority switched to FasTrak tolling only.
The removal of the tollbooths is part of an effort to streamline traffic on the bridge during heavy commute times. “After removing the toll booths, crews will install a temporary tolling system that will read FasTrak transponders and license plates for charging tolls. Workers also will restripe the toll plaza pavement.” The bridge will later get an overhead structure with mounted toll readers.
Read the full story: Richmond-San Rafael Bridge toll booths slated for removal
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