Automation is coming to a Golden Gate Bridge near you

San Francisco Chronicle/Transportation/Neil J. Riley, 11/16/12.  "Golden Gate Bridge delays all-electronic toll switch." 

License plate billing, no more toll booth

Hiking across the bridge, still free

....  "The new all-electronic toll system was scheduled to be up and running alongside the old-fashioned method in December, with computers and cameras taking over in February. But both those dates will be pushed back a month because more testing is needed to ensure that bridge workers can cross over for free and the disabled receive a discount on the $6 toll, said Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. 
  

Biking across the bridge, still free

Hitchhiking, bad idea

....  In addition to Fas-Trak, less-frequent bridge users can set up a license-plate account or make a one-time payment, which can either be done online or at payment locations being set up in retail stores around the Bay Area. License-plate accounts deduct the toll after the bridge is crossed and don’t require a pre-paid balance, and one-time payments can be made before or after crossing the bridge.    

The move to all-electronic tolling was approved in 2011 in an effort to both ease congestion and close a projected $89 million, five-year shortfall. Currie said implementation will cost $3.2 million but eliminating toll workers will save the district $19 million over an eight-year period. Even mailing drivers a bill for not paying would cost less at 67 cents per transaction than using a person to collect a toll at 83 cents per transaction.  

   Of the 28 toll workers who will lose their jobs, half have already retired or were transferred to other positions with the district. Currie said the district is working on a separation package for the remaining 14." 

Read article.

Reference -  Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, "Frequently asked questions about Golden Gate Bridge Conversion to all electronic tolling (AET)

Posted by Kathy Meeh

With us being the first bridge in the country switching to all-electronic tolling, all eyes are on us and it's really important that system functionality is operating perfectly," she said. "Our board of directors doesn't want us flipping that switch any sooner than when functionality is fully tested and everything is ready to go."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-Bridge-delays-toll-switch-4045530.php#ixzz2CVIzTTB1

With us being the first bridge in the country switching to all-electronic tolling, all eyes are on us and it's really important that system functionality is operating perfectly," she said. "Our board of directors doesn't want us flipping that switch any sooner than when functionality is fully tested and everything is ready to go."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-Bridge-delays-toll-switch-4045530.php#ixzz2CVIzTTB1