Event Registration
| Ticket Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Free | Free |
Event Details
It's easy to appreciate the simplicity of using FasTrak to drive across one of the Bay Area's tolled bridges and express lanes. But for many of our neighbors who lack a functioning transponder, have empty accounts or are unable to pay on time, the act of crossing these bridges can result in a destabilizing cycle of fines and fees, where a $6 toll can rapidly snowball. Multiply that by the 5 million unpaid tolls from across the region in 2019 and you've created a devastating cycle of debt that disproportionately harms low-income people and people of color in the Bay Area for whom crossing the region's bridges and using express lanes is a necessity of work and life. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has already begun reforming this system, including lowering the maximum penalty, and the Golden Gate Bridge District has initiated similar discussions towards building an equitable model — but can they go even further? What will Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) and Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) do to roll back their high pain/low gain fines and fees? Join us to talk about this reformation process and what it will take for the Bay Area to become the model of fine and fee equitability for the rest of the country.