The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) in San Francisco has launched a new all-electronic toll collection system at all seven of the region’s state-owned toll bridges.
Drivers now need to have a FasTrak toll tag or a license plate account – which links a license plate to a credit card and charges that card whenever the vehicle crosses a toll bridge – when they go through toll booths on the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael, Bay Bridge and San Mateo-Hayward bridges.
Patrons not enrolled in either programme will instead receive a monthly invoice for all toll bridge crossings.
According to BATA, the all-electronic system introduced at the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges is similar to the system used at the Golden Gate Bridge, which adopted all-electronic tolling in 2013.
Automated, high-speed cameras capture images of drivers’ license plates, and the FasTrak customer service centre processes the images and mails an invoice each month to the address at which the vehicle is registered with the US Department of Motor Vehicles.
The debut of all-electronic tolling and monthly invoicing at the seven state-owned toll bridges marks the return of toll payment rules that were temporarily suspended when the Covid-19 pandemic prompted BATA and the California Department of Transportation to eliminate cash toll collection on 21 March 2020.
