Bridges, Buses and Ferries – Oh My! Fares Going Up Today
Sometimes, it doesn’t seem possible to give Bay Area transit users more bad news.
But, alas, today brings yet another story of toll and fare increases.
Beginning today, it will cost you – if you’re an adult – an additional $2 to buy one of those handy Muni monthly passes. Elderly Muni riders, as well as youth and disabled riders, will see an increase of $1 when they refill their Clipper Card.
In addition to those increases, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is bumping up the fares of San Francisco’s historic cable cars from $5 to $6. But, cable cars are just for tourists anyway, so who cares right? Well, you might if you have a car because parking permits are also going up by $2.
It seems that there’s no escaping the rate hikes as Caltrain’s base fare will also see an extra 25 cents added.
Where does it end?
Certainly not with Golden Gate Transit as bus fares – as well as the Larkspur ferry – will go up by 5 percent. Oh, and those taking the ferry from beautiful Sausalito can fork over another $1 on their ride. And those “special event” ferries that bring people to AT&T Park will increase to $8.75.
Other interesting transit items of note include the increased cost to vehicles with more than two axles – that means big-rigs and any vehicle with a boat or trailer attached. For those vehicles traversing the Golden Gate Bridge, they can expect to pay between $13 and $31. Of course, that’s less if you have a FasTrak.
And have you ever noticed those folks riding solo in the carpool lane going through toll plazas? Well, if they were riding a Prius or some other hybrid car, it was perfectly legal for them to do so. But again, starting tomorrow, that too will change.
The prices we pay to live in the San Francisco Bay Area…