Led a major San Francisco Bay Area coalition against bridge toll increase
Our coalition has been protecting ordinary citizens in the Bay Area through the years. Originally, citizens were told that there would be no bridge toll once the Bay Bridge construction cost was covered. In 1989, the bridge toll was $1, now it is $5 or more, the increase is much faster than inflation.
It is really inopportune to have an increase in bridge toll in the Bay Area when we are in a recession with national unemployment rate at about 10%. This will cause inflationary pressure and affect everybody seriously. If the revenue from the current toll increase is really for retrofit, there should be a sunset clause with the current increase.
Charging for carpool is pernicious and counter-productive, against our efforts in advocating shared rides to solve the problems of traffic congestion and environmental pollution. Moreover, charging commuters more during peak hours is really penalizing the assiduous working class unfairly.
Our efforts have contributed to the lowering of carpool charge to $2.5 and the delaying of charges to truckers. We will continue to monitor their financial conditions and retrofit progress to ensure that they will stop the current increase after the retrofit projects are paid off.
Attached is our latest press release on this issue.
It is really inopportune to have an increase in bridge toll in the Bay Area when we are in a recession with national unemployment rate at about 10%. This will cause inflationary pressure and affect everybody seriously. If the revenue from the current toll increase is really for retrofit, there should be a sunset clause with the current increase.
Charging for carpool is pernicious and counter-productive, against our efforts in advocating shared rides to solve the problems of traffic congestion and environmental pollution. Moreover, charging commuters more during peak hours is really penalizing the assiduous working class unfairly.
Our efforts have contributed to the lowering of carpool charge to $2.5 and the delaying of charges to truckers. We will continue to monitor their financial conditions and retrofit progress to ensure that they will stop the current increase after the retrofit projects are paid off.
Attached is our latest press release on this issue.