With the unanticipated arrival of COVID-19, many everyday services were forced to shut down or drastically change. People—and the City of San Francisco—had to adapt to new policies for public safety. This put pressure on businesses and city services alike to find workarounds for the new restrictions. Toll plazas were no exception.

Since the pandemic, toll plazas on all Bay Area bridges have been left empty. With no more human collectors in the toll booths, this meant people didn’t have to stop anymore. Cars were able to just fly through toll booths and FasTrak cameras captured license plates and sent tolls by mail. But even though cars no longer had to come to a full stop, roll down the window, and hand cash to a human collector, drivers still must slow down, creating an unnecessary obstacle. These narrowed lanes have led to tragic consequences. In recent years, accidents at toll plazas have resulted in multiple deaths, raising questions about why the booths remain at all.

Recently, the City of San Francisco announced the arrival of open-road tolling, eliminating all seven of the Bay Area’s state-owned toll booths. The first bridge to implement this is the Richmond—San Rafael Bridge, with completion expected by early 2026.
The removal of obsolete, vacant toll booths will help prevent traffic bottlenecks, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission—Bay Area Toll Authority. An overhead structure called a gantry will allow the free flow of traffic while still processing tolls. Studies in other parts of the state with open-road tolling have shown effectiveness in reducing traffic and vehicle emissions. Hopefully, the same positive effects will be seen in the Bay Area.

The target dates for the other bridges include the Antioch and Carquinez in 2027; Benicia—Martinez, Dumbarton, and San Mateo—Hayward in the first half of 2028; and the Bay Bridge in late 2028.

The effort to streamline traffic and reduce commuting times is a significant initiative by the MTC—Bay Area Toll Authority, but will it be enough to make a difference for commuters?