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Webinar: Faster Freeways – Exploring the Potential of Pricing

Learn how Bay Area freeway travel, transit and safety could be improved in 2035. Share your feedback on potential pricing strategies and community reinvestment priorities.

In the years following the pandemic, freeway congestion surged back to pre-COVID levels and our transportation system is struggling to keep the Bay Area moving. Drivers have experienced slower freeways, while transit agencies grapple with funding and reliability challenges. Though transit ridership is slowly recovering, and infrastructure improvement projects are underway, freeway travel is expected to worsen if we don't shift gears.

To envision a better future where overall driving goes down and travel times improve, the MTC's Next Generation Bay Area Freeways Study explored the feasibility of all-lane freeway tolling. Pricing freeways has the potential to reduce travel time, encourage more sustainable travel behavior and fund public transit and road safety improvements that would make it easier for future generations to embrace viable alternatives to driving.

Following the study's preliminary public engagement to develop shared goals for the future of Bay Area freeways, staff completed an initial analysis to project a potential 2035 freeway pricing scenario.

Community Input

This virtual workshop invited members of the public to weigh in on tradeoffs between a future with and without freeway pricing. Participants were shown projected transportation outcomes in 2035 and provided feedback on potential pricing strategies, as well as how funding could be reinvested in Bay Area communities.

Staff provided two opportunities to attend the virtual event live. Those who could not join were encouraged to watch the video recording shown above. Feedback and questions were also submitted via email to info@bayareametro.gov.

Webinar

Public input helped refine the study’s analysis before a final report was presented to policymakers in December 2025.

Staff Contact

Anup Tapase, Next Generation Freeways Study Project Manager
Assistant Director, Transportation Planning
Email: atapase@bayareametro.gov