Bus, Ferry Rates Increase Friday

Bay Area transit riders and some motorists crossing local bridges will be asked to pay more beginning Friday.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is bumping up the prices of items including monthly passes, cable car fares and parking permits.

The cost of the Muni monthly passes will increase by $2 for adults, and $1 for seniors, youths and the disabled.

Cable car fares are jumping from $5 to $6, while the city's annual parking permits are increasing by $2, according to Muni officials.

Caltrain is adding 25 cents to its base fare starting Friday, and Golden Gate Transit buses and ferries will also become more expensive to ride.

The bus fares and Larkspur ferry fares are increasing by 5
percent. Sausalito ferry riders will now pay an additional $1 on their fare, and the fare for special event ferries to AT&T Park in San Francisco is increasing to $8.75, according to the transit district.

On Bay Area bridges, tolls will increase for vehicles with more than two axles, including big-rigs and cars with boats or other trailers attached to them.

On the region's seven state-owned bridges, the new toll will range from $10.50 to $24.25, depending on the number of axles, while the Golden Gate Bridge's tolls for multi-axle vehicles will rise to between $13 and $31,
with discounts available for FasTrak users.

Also starting Friday, hybrid car drivers will lose a perk of
driving their fuel-efficient vehicles.

Since 2004, solo drivers of hybrid vehicles with yellow clean-air stickers have been able to drive in carpool lanes, but that privilege will no longer be afforded, according to the state's Department of Motor Vehicles.

All-electric vehicles with white stickers will still be able to
drive solo in the carpool lanes until 2015, according to the DMV.

The various increases are the result of local and state agencies trying to close large budget deficits as the new fiscal year begins Friday.

The SFMTA faced a $45 million budget shortfall this year, while the Golden Gate Bridge District faces a five-year deficit of $89 million.

— Bay City News