Bay Bridge Will Reopen With FasTrak® Upgrades
OAKLAND, CA — After being closed for seismic safety work over the Labor Day weekend, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday morning with a fresh, new look at its eastern end. Motorists approaching the Bay Bridge toll plaza in Oakland will find an additional peak-period FasTrak-only lane, as well as new overhead signs and extended lane striping and pavement markings to help direct them to the appropriate lane based on their method of toll payment.
To encourage more drivers to pay their tolls electronically, the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) has extended until Sept. 15 an offer of $5 in free tolls for customers who open new FasTrak accounts. A temporary customer service center will be open at the Bay Bridge toll plaza to make it even easier for motorists to sign up for FasTrak.
“The physical improvements to the Bay Bridge toll plaza are part of a comprehensive plan adopted last year to increase toll plaza efficiency and expand use of electronic toll collection,” said Rod McMillan, BATA’s director of bridge oversight and operations. “This weekend’s Bay Bridge closure gives us a perfect opportunity to add a new peak-period FasTrak-only lane, complete the installation of new signage, and extend and restripe lanes to separate FasTrak customers and cash payers farther upstream. These changes will help improve traffic flow and reduce congestion-related pollution at the toll plaza.”
New FasTrak-Only Lane, Improved Signage, Extended Lanes
The addition of the new FasTrak-only lane during peak commute hours means that during times of heaviest travel, eight of the 20 lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza will be reserved for drivers who pay tolls electronically. The FasTrak-only lanes at the Bay Bridge will be strategically placed to allow easy access for vehicles approaching the bridge from Interstates 80 or 580. In the new configuration, and clustered toward the center of the main toll plaza, lanes 7 through 11 will serve as the FasTrak-only lanes for drivers approaching the Bay Bridge during the peak periods from Interstate 80 or Interstate 580. (Previously, lane 5 and lanes 9 through 11 served this function.) During nonpeak periods in the new configuration, lanes 10 and 11 will be available for both cash payers and FasTrak customers.
There will be no changes on the Interstate 880 approach to the Bay Bridge toll plaza. As before, lanes 18 through 20 will serve as the FasTrak-only lanes for motorists approaching the bridge from I-880. These three lanes are at the “mini toll plaza,” located on the far right-hand side (and slightly west) of the main toll plaza.
In addition to making a new FasTrak-only lane available during peak hours, BATA and Caltrans also are installing new overhead signage, including changeable message signs, on the Bay Bridge approaches. New changeable message signs at the toll plazas will give BATA the flexibility to switch FasTrak-only lanes to cash/FasTrak lanes and back again as traffic demand warrants. The combination of new signs and extended lane markings will help eliminate the weaving between lanes that often adds to backups. (To view diagrams of the new lane configuration and signage at the Bay Bridge toll plaza and its approaches, visit: www.mtc.ca.gov/services/fastrak.)
Free Toll Incentives
To get more motorists to sign up for FasTrak, BATA is extending to Sept. 15 its offer of $5 in free tolls to all customers who open new FasTrak accounts. This offer had been set to expire on Aug. 31. Additionally, a temporary customer service center at the Bay Bridge toll plaza administration building (which can be accessed via the far left lane in either direction) will be opened to sign up new FasTrak accounts. The satellite center allows customers who have an active e-mail address—and who open their accounts with a credit card—to walk out with a FasTrak toll tag in hand. The satellite customer service center will be open from Tuesday, Sept. 4 through Saturday, Sept. 15, with operating hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Customers also can enroll in the FasTrak program online at www.511.org, by calling 511 and asking for ‘FasTrak’ at the first prompt, or in person at the permanent FasTrak customer service center at 475 The Embarcadero in San Francisco. There is no fee to open or maintain a FasTrak prepaid toll account, and no deposit is required for customers who use a credit card to open their account and request three or fewer toll tags. FasTrak can be used in all lanes at all Bay Area toll bridges.
Drivers who pick up their toll tags at select Safeway or Costco stores and activate their accounts prior to Sept. 15 will receive $5 in free tolls and may be eligible for an additional $5 in free tolls. For information on incentives for new FasTrak customers, please visit www.511.org, or call 511.
Caltrans owns, operates and maintains the state highway system, including seven Bay Area toll bridges. BATA, which is directed by the same policy board as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), administers toll revenues from the region's state-owned toll bridges. MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
Contact:
John Goodwin, BATA: (415) 778-5262
Lauren Wonder, Caltrans: (510) 715-6730