Steve Heminger Executive Director Metropolitan Transportation Commission Greater Vancouver’s Livability Forum June 1, 2009 TOLL: The Four Letter Word of Transportation Finance

1. BRIDGES 2

“A bridge is to a road as a diamond is to a ring” — Anonymous “A bridge is to a road as a diamond is to a ring” — Anonymous 3

Bay Area’s Network  The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is the metropolitan planning organization for the San Francisco Bay Area  400 miles of carpool lanes  1,400 miles of highway  19,000 miles arterial streets  7,000 miles of transit routes  8 toll bridges 4

Back to the Future?  California Toll Bridge Authority  Separate from the California Division of Highways – predecessor of Caltrans 5

Bay Area’s Toll Bridges  The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) oversees seven state-owned toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area  San Francisco-Oakland Bay  San Mateo-Hayward  Dumbarton  Richmond-San Rafael  Carquinez  Benicia-Martinez  Antioch * * Golden Gate Bridge owned and operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD)

Bay Area’s Toll Bridges San Francisco-Oakland Bay ,000 Richmond-San Rafael195671,000 Carquinez1958/ ,000 Benicia-Martinez Bridge1962/ ,000 San Mateo-Hayward196792,000 Antioch197815,000 Dumbarton198461, ,000 Total Average Daily Crossings Toll Bridge Average Daily CrossingsYear Opened 7

Toll Structure and Revenues  Toll Structure  Regional Measure 1 (1989)$1  Seismic Surcharge (1998)$1  Regional Measure 2 (2004)$1  Seismic Surcharge (2007)$1 Total Auto Toll $4  Annual Toll Revenues  Regional Measure 1 (1989)$130 M  Seismic Surcharge (1998)$120 M  Regional Measure 2 (2004)$120 M  Seismic Surcharge (2007) $120 M Total Annual Revenues$490 M 8

Earthquakes  1989 Loma Prieta  6.9 Magnitude  60 miles from San Francisco 9

Toll Bridge Seismic Retrofit Program  $8.7 Billion Retrofit Program on the following bridges:  San Mateo-Hayward (2000)  Carquinez (2002)  Benicia-Martinez (2002)  Richmond-San Rafael (2005)  San Francisco-Oakland Bay (Under Construction) 10

Oakland Touchdown Under Construction 11

Completed Skyway 12

Steel Roadway Decks Steel Roadway Boxes Under Fabrication 13

Tower Leg in Rotating Jig 14

1,700 Ton Shear-leg Crane Barge Undergoing Testing 15

Yerba Buena Island Detour Construction 16

Regional Measure 1 Program  $2.4 Billion Congestion Relief Program including:  San Mateo-Hayward Bridge Widening (2003)  New Carquinez Bridge (2004)  Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trestle Replacement (2005)  Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Deck Overlay (2006)  New Benicia-Martinez Bridge (2007)  I-880/SR-92 Interchange Reconstruction (Under Construction)  17

New Carquinez Bridge (2003) 18

Benicia-Martinez Bridge (2007) 19

Regional Measure 2 Capital Project Program  The RM2 funding program is primarily oriented towards transit alternatives  RM2 provides partial funding to projects, balance provided by project sponsor  If funding or project fails, BATA can reallocate funding to different project in the same bridge corridor Project Funding (in $ millions) Ferry Programs $197 Bus Programs $157 Transbay Terminal $150 BART Tube Seismic $143 Dumbarton Rail $135 Interstate 80/680 Improvements $100 E-BART Extension $96 BART-Warm Springs $95 Interstate 580 Corridor $65 Caldecott Tunnel 4 th bore $51 20

Regional Measure 2 Operating Program  RM2 provides a key source of funding for a variety of new transit services  Operating cost payments are subordinated to debt service Project Annual Funding Cap (in $ millions) Regional Express Bus (S) 7.4 Alameda Ferry 7.2 Dumbarton Rail 6.2 Regional Express Bus (N) 3.9 Albany Ferry 3.6 South SF Ferry 3.4 Vallejo Ferry 3.1 Water Transit Administration 3.0 AC Transit 3.0 Muni Metro 2.5 Golden Gate 2.4 Owl Bus 2.1 Napa Transit

BATA’s Debt Portfolio  Current BATA debt portfolio is $5.1 billion  $2.9 billion fixed rate debt  $2.2 billion variable rate debt  The weighted cost of the entire “AA” portfolio is $ 4.20%, as of March 2009 Debt Principal (in $ millions) Percent Fixed2,90057% Variable2,20043% Total Debt5,100100% 22

2. HOT NETWORK 23

“Why do you rob banks? That’s where the money is.” — Attributed to Willie Sutton “Why do you rob banks? That’s where the money is.” — Attributed to Willie Sutton 24

What are HOT Lanes?  High-Occupancy Toll Lanes, or Express Lanes  HOV lanes with a twist  Carpools, buses free  Single drivers can choose to pay (congestion insurance)  Electronic tolls  Variable tolls to manage demand 25

HOT Lanes Across the U.S. Orange County (1995) San Diego (1998) Houston (1998) Minneapolis (2005) Denver (2006) Seattle (2008) San Diego extension (2008) Miami (2008) Houston expansion (2009) Los Angeles (2010) Bay Area I-680, I-580 (2010) Bay Area Rte 85/U.S. 101 (2013) Riverside (2015) 26

Proven Corridor Management Tool Improved Travel Speeds (Minneapolis) 5% Increased Carpooling (San Diego) 58% Doubled Vehicle Throughput (Orange County) 100% Fewer Delays Reported (Minneapolis) 20% Reduced crashes (Minneapolis) 12% 27

Bay Area HOT Network  800 miles total  500 miles conversion (63%)  400 existing  100 fully funded  300 miles of new lanes (37%)  60% are “gap closures”  5% increase in freeway mileage 28

What will it cost and how much revenue will be generated?  HOT network revenues were based on planning level financial estimates  Costs assume Rapid Delivery model 2009 through 2033, escalated 29 Gross revenue $13.7 B Capital cost$3.7 B Financing cost$1.9 B O&M cost$2.0 B Net Revenue$6.1 B 2009 through 2033, escalated

3. CONGESTION PRICING 30

But…  HOT lanes are popular because motorists can choose to use them – or choose not to  That choice also limits the effectiveness of HOT lanes as a congestion relief strategy for most motorists 31

European/Asian Model: Cordon/Area Pricing Stockholm Singapore London 32

Cordon Pricing in the U.S.? San Francisco? New York? 33

Peak Pricing Common in Many North American Industries Telephone Charges Hotel Rates Air Fares Movie Tickets 34

… But Not in the Transportation Sector 35

Why is paying more (higher tolls) for a scarce commodity (road capacity) such a hard sell (in transportation)? 36

Are There Technology Obstacles? © 2006 John O’Brien from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. 37

Not Anymore Source: FHWA  Toll collection lanes with electronic toll collection capability 38

Is the Public Opposed? 39

Not if You Ask Them 1995 Bay Area Poll: $3 peak toll Support for Congestion Pricing 2000 Bay Crossings Study: $4 peak toll 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Percent Support Alameda Regionwide Contra Costa North Bay Peninsula Santa Clara 3% no opinion 40

Is Pricing Fair to the Poor? The answer depends on two things: 1) Who pays the higher toll 2) How the revenue is spent 41

Who Pays Household Income: Average Household vs. Bay Bridge Peak Commuters 42

Robin Hood Spending  Travel alternatives – transit, carpooling, vanpooling  Off-peak discounts – lower tolls in non-commute hours  Lifeline toll – similar to public utility programs for low-income customers 43

Traffic Congestion = Evil #1 Congestion Pricing = Evil #2 44

“ When faced with a choice between two evils, I always choose the one I haven’t tried before” — Mae West “ When faced with a choice between two evils, I always choose the one I haven’t tried before” — Mae West 45

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