“It’s certainly something that’s been a cloud over us for the past four and a half years,” said Thomas Hall, a spokesperson for Water Emergency Transportation Authority, which runs the San Francisco Bay Ferry. The ferry has been counting on the funding measure to back
But the money flowing from millions of drivers passing through the Bay Area’s seven state-owned bridges has been, locked away in a Union Bank account pending the litigation. In another twist, the court tied the fate of Bay Area bridge tolls to a separate dispute between residential landlords and the City of Oakland’s garbage and recycling fees. Plaintiffs in both cases argued that government fees functioned as new taxes and thus required a two-thirds majority to pass.
“This is the largest regional measure that’s been passed in Bay Area history,” said Emily Loper, a vice president at the Bay Area Council, which spearheaded advocacy on the toll bridge increases. “The voters who passed this measure are already paying for that for the tolls and now they can finally start to reap the benefits.”. The nine-county measure was rejected by voters in Contra Costa and Solano counties but buoyed by strong support in San Francisco and the South Bay.
The taxpayers had to wait 4+ years because of this frivolous lawsuit, blocking public investment in infrastructure.