Traffic Management Innovations
As a fixed, six-lane roadway, the Golden Gate Bridge cannot be easily expanded to accommodate traffic growth. As a result, the Bridge has been the scene of a number of nationally recognized and innovative procedures designed to improve the flow of traffic.
- FasTrak electronic toll collection significantly improved the flow of traffic through the toll plaza when added to the Golden Gate Bridge in July 2000. Toll plaza waits times of up to 20 minutes virtually vanished within several months of the launch of FasTrak as the FasTrak market grew so quickly.
- Reversible lanes were inaugurated on the roadway on October 29, 1963. Their use greatly aids the flow of traffic during the heavy morning and evening commute hours and during weekend tourist periods. At any given time, the number of lanes northbound or southbound may be adjusted. The Bridge has six roadway lanes and during the morning commute, there are typically four lanes of traffic southbound to San Francisco and two lanes northbound to Marin County. During the afternoon commute, there are typically three lanes northbound to Marin and three lanes southbound to San Francisco.
- One-way toll collection began on the Golden Gate Bridge on October 19, 1968. The Golden Gate became the first major bridge in the world to offer one-way toll collection, and the system proved so successful, that is has since been instituted on many bridges throughout the world.
- Golden Gate Bus and Ferry Transit (GGT) systems were initiated in the early 1970s as traffic management solutions to growing congestion on the Golden Gate Bridge. GGT has become an integral part of life in Marin and Sonoma counties and a chief contributor to the relief of traffic congestion across the Bridge as well as in the U.S. Highway 101 Golden Gate corridor from San Francisco north to Santa Rosa, CA. As a result, traffic throughput at the Bridge toll plaza has been held to manageable levels. Prior to the implementation of GGT services, approximately 30,000 people in 20,000 vehicles crossed the Bridge during each morning commute. By 2000, nearly 36,000 people crossed the Bridge each morning, but vehicles crossing only grew to 21,000.