$40M in funding approved to ease Bay Bridge commute

ALAMEDA, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area transportation planners have approved $40 million in funding specifically to ease the Bay Bridge commute and alternatives.

The Bay Bridge is perpetually congested. "Driving is not fun, dealing with traffic and everything," one driver said.

But the Metropolitan Transportation Commission is funding some temporary remedies, like added ferries and busses.

"These are things that we know work. We do these things during a BART strike, for example. We want to take those emergency matters and make them permanent," Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesperson Randy Rentschler said.

The commission approved $40 million on Wednesday to help relieve Bay Bridge traffic. It will fund additional ferry trips and new vessels as early as this fall - something commuters from Alameda are eager to hear.

"For the South San Francisco route, which started four years ago, there used to not be very many riders on it at all. But now we've reached almost capacity on some of the routes," Alameda resident Anne Thomas said.

AC Transit will use the money to aid in purchasing 15 double decker buses. The buses should arrive in about a year and a half.

"BART's gotten pretty crowded. I don't know what you can do about that. So we're not going to build a bridge anytime soon. Anything to ease congestion on the bridge would be great," Alameda resident David Lachs said.

HOV lanes and new carpool lots should help too, but it's all temporary as transit leaders struggle to keep up with the viral type growth of the Bay Area.

"These employment numbers that we have in San Francisco are significant. I guess we can be blessed for the problems we have in the Bay Area," Rentschler said.

More money is going towards catching HOV lane violators.

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