History and Facts About BATA, and Forthcoming Challenges ITS California Northern Section June 26, 2014 Carol Kuester Director, Electronic Payments What is BATA? ∗ The Bay Area Toll Authority ∗ Created in 1997 to administer the base $1 auto toll on seven state-owned bridges ∗ Empowered by the Legislature in 2005 to administer toll revenue and provide joint oversight bridge construction with Caltrans and the CTC ∗ Manages and invests toll revenues, funds long-term capital improvements & rehab, oversees RM 1, RM 2, Seismic Retrofit Program 2 Bay Area Toll Facilities ∗ Bridges • Antioch • Benicia-Martinez • Carquinez • Dumbarton • Richmond-San Rafael • San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge • San Mateo-Hayward • Golden Gate Bridge (managed by GGB) ∗ Express Lanes • I-680 Express Lane (managed by ACTC) • SR-237 Express Lane (managed by VTA) 3 Annual Peak Period Lane Volumes Bridge # of Staffed # of ETC Peak Period Annual Traffic Lanes Lanes % ETC SF Oakland Bay 9 11 82% 45 Million Carquinez 8 4 65% 20.2 Million Benicia-Martinez 9 3 (ORT) 70% 19 Million San Mateo-Hayward 6 4 76% 17.5 Million Richmond-San Rafael 4 3 70% 13.4 Million Dumbarton 4 3 76% 10.8 Million Antioch 1 2 55% 2.2 Million TOTAL 41 30 78% 128.1 Million 4 Tolling to Achieve Policy Objectives ∗ Consolidating to a Regional Customer Service Center ∗ Introducing Open Road Tolling ∗ Implementing time of day pricing and carpool tolls on San Francisco Bay Bridge ∗ Supporting all electronic tolling on Golden Gate Bridge ∗ Deploying a regional express lane network 5 Customer Service Centers 2003 ∗ Caltrans and Golden Caltrans Golden Gate Bridge operated 7 Toll Gate independent Bridges Bridge customer service centers Caltrans GGB Customer Customer Service Service Center Interoperable Center Data Exchange, Fund Settlement 6 Single Customer Service Center SFO Parking ∗ BATA Regional MTC BATA Express Customer Service 7 Toll Lanes Bridges Center supporting (2016) BATA multiple toll and Regional Customer parking facilities Service Center ACTC I-680 Express Golden Lanes Gate Bridge VTA SR 237 Express Lanes 7 Customer Service Center • Call Center • Tag Inventory • Walk In • Transaction Processing • Voice Response System • Financial Management • Web • Credit Card Billing • Account Management • Tag ID File to Lane • Toll Tag Mailout • Reconciliation Files • Process Payments • Agency $ Settlement • Handle Disputes • Violation Processing • Generate Statements • Send Violation Notices 8 FasTrak Account Growth 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 - 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total weekday peak-period FasTrak usage = 78% 9 Standard FasTrak® Only Lane 10 Open Road Toll Lanes Bay Bridge ORT Benicia-Martinez ORT 11 Regional Toll Collection Policy Change Purpose Commute into San Francisco (WB) Influence congestion patterns by changing driver behavior July 1, 2010 Policy Change • All Bay Area bridges increased tolls • Congestion pricing introduced on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge • Implemented carpool toll requirements Source: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/images/revenue/webinar_033011/033011_image001.jpg 12 New Carpool Rules Prior carpool rules • Carpool definition generally 3+ • Free in commute periods New carpool fare • State owned bridges $2.50 • Golden Gate Bridge $3.00 New rules to qualify as carpool • Requires FasTrak use • Travel in designated carpool lanes only Source: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/New-bridge-tolls-shake-up- casual-carpool-market-3255827.php#photo-2405069 13 Bay Bridge Congestion Pricing Bay Bridge Auto Toll • Weekday Peak: $6 • Weekday Off Peak: $4 • Weekends: $5 • Other state owned bridges: $5 14 All Electronic Tolling (AET) -Golden Gate Bridge- Cash collection removed from the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza in March 2013 • Toll collection methods — License plate image used to bill the registered vehicle owner — FasTrak tag • Introduced new payment options — Image based license plate accounts — Cash payment kiosks at retail locations • Other Bay Area bridges will be studied 15 AET Challenges On-going education for casual users • Visitors/Tourists ― Rental car agreements Managing multiple brands • Delivering different business rules seamlessly • Balancing independence with regional consistency 16 Express Lane Network Phase I Two express lanes operating today • I-680 southbound • SR-237 More facilities coming • I-580 • Regional network including • HOV conversion • Bridge approaches Three agencies delivering lanes 17 Growing the Express Lane Network Multiple Express Lane Operators in Regional Network • 550 miles planned • Business rules & policies • Infrastructure • Public facing points of contact Regional Messaging to Users • What is it?, How do I use it?, How much does it cost? 18 Looking Forward How can BATA best relieve congestion and improve efficiency of toll collection? ∗ Increase use of FasTrak® & convert staffed bridge toll lanes to dedicated FasTrak lanes ∗ Consider expanding all electronic tolling ∗ Support Express Lane network deployment ∗ Educate customers and provide responsive customer service 19 FasTrak® Keeps the Bay Area Moving 20 .