Article 3.5. Toll Bridge Revenues of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 17. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 3.5.

It is the intent of the Legislature that toll bridge revenues be used to further the development of public transportation systems in the vicinity of toll bridges in order to alleviate automobile-related congestion and pollution and to diminish the need for state expenditures on new bridge facilities.

"Authority" means the Bay Area Toll Authority.

"Commission" means the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

"Department" means the Department of Transportation.

(a) "Net transit revenues" means those revenues of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge determined by the authority as derived from the toll increase instituted by the commission in 1977. The calculation of the amount of the net transit revenues is equal to 16 percent of the revenue generated each year from the collection of the base toll at its level in existence for the 2001-02 fiscal year on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge.
  (b) The net transit revenues are subordinate to all of the following:
  (1) The obligation to pay necessary costs of toll collection operation.
  (2) The obligations of the authority under any bond resolution or indenture applicable to the toll bridges issued by the authority.
  (3) The obligation to repay any advances made to the department from any other source for studies and work preliminary to the financing of any toll bridge project.

"Toll bridge" means any state-owned bridge, including the approaches to the toll bridge from the nearest highway that is not for the exclusive use of toll bridge traffic, located within the region under the jurisdiction of the commission.

To maximize the availability of funding necessary to complete the state toll bridge seismic retrofit program, to more efficiently manage the toll revenues from the toll bridges located within the region under the jurisdiction of the commission, and to expeditiously complete the seismic retrofit and replacement of the toll bridge facilities identified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 188.5, it is necessary and in the public's interest to consolidate the financial management of all of the toll revenues that are imposed by Sections 30916, 31010, and 31011 and that the Bay Area Toll Authority manage all of those toll revenues.

The authority may increase the toll rates specified in the adopted toll schedule only if this is necessary in order to enable the authority to meet its obligations under any bond resolution or indenture.

(a) The authority may grant toll-free passage or may adopt a reduced-rate schedule of tolls for vehicles occupied by three or more persons, including the driver, and for buses crossing the bridges. The reduced-rate toll for those vehicles shall be determined by the authority in consultation with the department, and may consist of reduced daily tolls or payment in lieu of daily tolls. If the authority grants toll-free passage or adopts a reduced-rate toll schedule under this subdivision, it shall grant toll-free passage or adopt the same schedule for class I vehicles designed by the manufacturer to be occupied by not more than two persons, including the driver, if these vehicles are occupied by two persons, including the driver.
  (b) Tolls on the bridges shall be maintained at rates sufficient to meet any obligations to the holders of bonds secured by the bridge toll revenues, as set forth in any bond resolution or indenture or obligation contained in bonds issued pursuant to the bond resolution or indenture, and the authority shall revise or eliminate the reduced-rate toll schedule adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) as necessary to ensure compliance with those obligations.
  (c) The authority may also vary, as it deems advisable, the toll rates applicable to a vehicle operated on the bridges for the carriage of passengers by any municipal or public corporation, transit district, public utility district, political subdivision, or by a transportation company operating under a certificate of public convenience and necessity. The authority shall consult with the affected operators prior to adopting any toll rate pursuant to this subdivision.

The authority shall transfer the net transit revenues, as defined in Section 30884, to the commission on a regularly scheduled basis as set forth in the authority's annual budget resolution.

The commission may retain, for its cost in administering this article, an amount not to exceed one-quarter of 1 percent of the revenues allocated by it pursuant to Section 30892 and of the revenues allocated by it pursuant to Sections 30913 and 30914.

After deduction for its administrative cost, the commission shall allocate the remaining funds to public entities operating public transportation systems and to the department to achieve the commission's capital planning objectives in the vicinity of toll bridges as set forth in its adopted regional transportation plan. Such objectives shall include, but not be limited, to:
  (a) Transbridge corridor trunk transit services.
  (b) Feeder service to transbridge trunk transit services.
  (c) Bridge traffic control devices required to establish exclusive lanes for transit services.
  (d) Transbridge terminal facilities.
  (e) Transbridge corridor guideway facilities.
  (f) Improvement of alternate public transportation facilities and routings which affect bridge traffic.

The commission may also allocate the funds to public entities and the department for the establishment and operation of ferry systems within the region under the jurisdiction of the commission.

The commission shall adopt and distribute procedures for the submission of applications for funding and allocation of funds. Only those applications for projects that will implement the commission's transportation planning objectives in the vicinity of toll bridges as set forth in its adopted regional transportation plan or the commission's objectives with respect to ferry systems shall be approved.