Just Submitted to the SF Chronicle: Doyle Drive Tolls

Doyle Drive Tolls will Benefit Everyone—Especially Marin Commuters


The San Francisco County Transportation Authority deserves praise for winning a major federal grant—but it has been getting nothing but rotten tomatoes. The $160 million grant supports their investigation of financing a major overhaul of Doyle Drive, a project that is decades overdue. The catch is, the best option for its financing looks at this point to be a toll. That has Marin County commuters up in arms, even though they have more reason to be hopeful than angry.

More than simply a means of raising funds, tolls can be a powerful tool for San Francisco transportation engineers to manage traffic in one of the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. At this preliminary stage, San Francisco officials are hoping to maximize their potential to reduce congestion and pollution. With current technologies, this can be done without adding toll booths or any expensive infrastructure; drivers would not even have to slow down. As a matter of fact, chances would be much better that they could enjoy a brisk 45 mile per hour pace through lovely scenery.

Less enjoyable but more important, drivers will be much, much, safer on the new Doyle Drive paid for by these tolls. As it is, Doyle Drive is a death trap, its design essentially unchanged since the time of the Model-T, and it lacks shoulders or barriers separating opposing traffic. In the early 1970s it was declared “the most dangerous road in America” by Golden Gate Bridge officials. Now we know that if it’s not the most dangerous, it is indeed one of the very worst. That it made it through Loma Prieta does not mean that it won’t become the next disaster area during the next big quake.

No one has more to gain from this proposition than Marin County commuters. The well-heeled North Bay residents who choose to drive across the bridge every day will enjoy a safe, easy trip for a relatively small fee. At least some of their expense will be offset by better parking facilities in the city, paid for by toll money. Those who work in the city but can’t easily afford the luxury of driving will keep Golden Gate bus patronage up. Hopefully, the bridge district will respond by reinstating some of the routes they have been paring back so brutally over the last few years. And, some of the Doyle Drive toll money will go toward expanding the parking facilities at Marin ferry terminals.

Let’s face it, the money has to come from somewhere. Caltrans has been in charge of the roadway since the 1940s and has yet to tackle the project, partially because of the reluctance of San Franciscans to risk more traffic congestion; this proposal addresses that concern and offers many other benefits. A well-managed toll will fund a safe Doyle Drive and improve traffic in the process.