Bridge toll for walkers, bikers on Golden Gate?

With the support of Sonoma County's three representatives, Golden Gate Bridge District officials are pressing forward with a controversial study of charging a toll for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the span.

'I couldn't, as an elected official of the North Bay representing a lot of toll payers who use the bridge to commute to work or for other reasons, dismiss outright looking at additional ways of offsetting toll increases,' Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt said.

On the iconic span Monday, however, the notion of charging a so-called sidewalk fee drew widespread derision.

'It's ridiculous. Make your money somewhere else,' said Kevin Gallagher, a Long Island, N.Y., resident who couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to make his first pilgrimage to the bridge.

Rabbitt joined Petaluma political consultant Brian Sobel and Rohnert Park City Councilwoman Gina Belforte in supporting the study, which narrowly survived on a 10-9 vote of the district's board last week. The split was almost entirely along North Bay versus San Francisco lines.

The action merely authorizes a study and gives district staff until 2017 to research the idea. There has been no discussion of how much to charge pedestrians and cyclists nor how much the district would aim to bring in with any such toll.

The district has charged pedestrians in the past, but current officials said they were not aware of why that practice was halted in 1970.

The potential sidewalk toll is one of 45 revenue-generating or cost-reduction proposals district officials are considering to help offset a projected $32.9 million deficit over the next five years. Rabbitt noted that raising tolls by $1 brings in an additional $20 million annually in revenue.

Asked Monday whether he is philosophically opposed to charging pedestrians and cyclists a toll to use the bridge, Rabbitt replied, 'No.'

'If there are 3 million people using the bridge and they're not paying for it, is that fair?' he said. 'That's something we need to talk about as a group.'

But Dutch tourist Eline Kiewiet, who visited the bridge Monday with a companion, said charging tourists to stroll the bridge isn't a good idea.

'I would charge for the services, not for the bridge itself,' she said, referring to bridge amenities, including restrooms.

Maria Rosaria, visiting from Turin, Italy, also dismissed the idea of a toll, saying the bridge 'should be accessible to everybody.'

An organized cycling group presented bridge officials with a petition signed by about 4,000 people who are opposed to the toll idea, according to Sobel.

Taking a break from a training ride Monday, San Francisco cyclist Michael Heywood said he might support paying something if by doing so it enhanced the cycling experience regionally, not just on the Golden Gate. But he was not in favor of doing so through a toll, which he said would 'dissuade people from cycling.'

Motorists currently pay a $7 toll to use the Golden Gate, or $6 with FasTrak. By 2018, under a plan approved by bridge officials in February, the tolls will have increased to $8, or $7 using FasTrak. The increases are projected to generate an additional $138 million in revenue for the bridge district.

'We don't have any tax dollars,' bridge spokeswoman Priya Clemens said Monday. 'In addition to tolls, we are doing everything we can to consider various ways to keep us in the black.'

Sobel, who was appointed to the bridge district by Sonoma County supervisors, said Monday that he's 'ambivalent' about implementing a sidewalk fee on the bridge. But he said it would 'not be acceptable' to set aside studying the idea.

He and Rabbitt both noted that the brunt of toll charges are borne by people who live in the North Bay and travel to San Francisco via the bridge or by ferry.

'The residents of Marin and Sonoma counties deserve to have their (bridge) directors looking at any funding source that may be available that would keep tolls and fares from going up, even if it was incremental,' Sobel said.

Belforte, who represents Sonoma County cities on the board, said the bridge district incurs costs as a result of responding to bicycle crashes, cleaning up litter and use of bathroom facilities. She said tour buses disgorge passengers on the southern end of the bridge and then turn around, a practice she said allows tour operators to avoid paying tolls.

'I feel it's my duty to look at everything, even if it's something the majority of people don't agree with,' she said. 'I want to keep an open mind and look at it from all sides.'

All eight of the district's San Francisco representatives voted against the sidewalk fee study, as did Marin County Supervisor Kate Sears.

Sobel, who's served with the district since 2008 and, previously, in the 1990s, said the division marks one of the most dramatic north-south splits in his time on the board. But he chalked that up mostly to election-year politics.

'A number of those folks from San Francisco are up for re-election,' he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.