Bridge toll bump heads to voters

Bay Area voters in June will have the opportunity to decide whether they want to pay another dollar in tolls on seven bridges starting next year, according to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.

Residents will make the decision by voting on Regional Measure 3, a $4.45 billion measure that is aimed at relieving traffic and improving transit.

If voters approve the measure, bridge tolls would go up by $1 in January 2019, $1 January 2022 and $1 January 2025 on Bay Area bridges except the Golden Gate Bridge.

The money would help San Francisco travelers by providing funding for the fleet expansions of both BART and the San Francisco Municipal Railway and for the Caltrain rail extension to downtown, among other projects.

Regionally, money would go toward such projects as BART’s extension to Santa Clara, expanded ferry service, and extending the SMART rail system to Windsor and Healdsburg.