More FasTrak(TM)-only Lanes to Open at Bay Bridgetitle
New Accounts Get $10 Credit, Motorists Can Enroll at Toll Plaza
OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Bay Area motorists can look
forward to an early Christmas present on Monday, Dec. 19, when the Bay Area
Toll Authority (BATA) and the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) open two new FasTrak(TM)-only lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza.
Caltrans will convert lanes #9 and #10, near the center of the main toll
plaza, for exclusive use by vehicles equipped with FasTrak(TM) electronic toll
collection transponders. Tolls on these lanes currently can be paid with cash
or FasTrak(TM).
To encourage more motorists to sign up for FasTrak(TM), BATA will credit
all new FasTrak(TM) accounts opened from Dec. 1 to Dec. 19 with an additional
$10 in prepaid tolls. Travelers can enroll online at http://www.511.org or
http://www.bayareafastrak.org, via phone by calling 511 and saying "FasTrak(TM)" or
in person by visiting the main FasTrak(TM) Customer Service Center located at
475 The Embarcadero (at Broadway) in downtown San Francisco, or at a temporary
satellite center in the administration building at the Bay Bridge toll plaza
that will be open from Monday, Dec. 5 through Wednesday, Dec. 21. Those who
sign up in person will receive FasTrak(TM) transponders on the spot. Motorists
who enroll online or via phone can expect to receive their transponders in
about seven to 10 business days.
"Convenience and efficiency are what FasTrak(TM) is all about," said
Mike Nevin, who represents San Mateo County on the BATA and Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (MTC) board, and chairs the BATA Oversight
Committee. "FasTrak(TM) saves time and helps ease congestion. Its easy to
sign up, the transponders are free, and drivers dont need to worry about
having cash when they cross a bridge. Now were throwing in $10 in prepaid
tolls. It just doesnt make any sense to not have FasTrak(TM)."
The temporary satellite center to be established at the Bay Bridge toll
plaza will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. on weekends. Motorists can enter the toll plaza parking lot from the
left lane in either the eastbound or westbound direction. Those who sign up
for FasTrak(TM) at the Bay Bridge toll plaza must use a credit card to open
their prepaid toll account, and must have a valid e-mail address. Motorists
who choose to open their prepaid toll account by check must visit the main
FasTrak(TM) Customer Service Center in San Francisco. All new FasTrak(TM)
accounts opened from Dec. 1 through Dec. 19 will be eligible for the $10
credit.
"These new FasTrak(TM)-only lanes are another example of Caltrans ongoing
commitment to promoting the use of intelligent transportation systems to
improve the efficiency and safety of Californias transportation system," said
Caltrans Director Will Kempton.
FasTrak(TM)-only lanes can handle about three times as many vehicles per
hour as lanes where drivers stop to pay cash. Fifteen of the 70 toll lanes at
the regions seven state-owned toll bridges, including five of the 20 toll
lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza, currently are reserved for FasTrak(TM)
users. The upcoming conversions will bring to seven the number of
FasTrak(TM)-only lanes at the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Lanes reserved for
FasTrak(TM)-equipped vehicles will include lanes #5, #9, #10 and #11 at the
main toll plaza and lanes #18, #19 and #20 at the "mini plaza" on the far
right side of the roadway. A diagram of the FasTrak(TM)-only lanes at the Bay
Bridge toll plaza can be viewed online at
http://www.mtc.ca.gov/news/info/BayBridge-FasTrak-Dec05.pdf.
More than 400,000 FasTrak(TM) accounts are now open in the Bay Area, and
some 580,000 vehicles are outfitted with FasTrak(TM) transponders.
BATA, which is directed by the same policy board as the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (MTC), administers tolls on the Bay Areas seven
state-owned toll bridges and oversees the operation of the FasTrak(TM)
Customer Service Center on behalf of MTC, Caltrans and the Golden Gate Bridge,
Highway and Transportation District. MTC is the transportation planning,
financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
