Gavin Newsom made the decision to pull toll takers out of their booths when the pandemic hit in March 2020. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, there will be no more toll takers on the bridge. It’s the end of an era. Another listener, Eli Streicker-Hirt, wants to know, what will happen to those workers?

How much does a Toll Collector at New York State Thruway make? The typical New York State Thruway Toll Collector salary is $30,745 per year. Toll Collector salaries at New York State Thruway can range from $30,390 – $37,286 per year.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced toll plaza removal and interchange reconstruction will resume on the New York State Thruway’s former ticketed system this week and is expected to be completed, weather permitting, by the end of summer 2021.

At the Bay Bridge, the E-ZPass rate for a two-axle vehicle is $2.50. The cash toll is $4, and the video toll rate is $6. The E-ZPass transponder is free for Maryland drivers and there is no fee to create or maintain an account.

Caltrans and BATA encourage toll bridge customers who do not already have a FasTrak® account to open one online at www.bayareafastrak.org or by phone at 1-877-229-8655 (BAY-TOLL). Customers also can obtain a FasTrak® toll tag at Costco or Walgreens stores and then activate their new accounts online.

Starting Monday, Fastrak users will pay $7.35 to cross the Golden Gate bridge, a $0.35 increase. The rate will increase by $0.35 each year until 2023. For pay as you go drivers, you will now pay $8.20 and the rate will increase by $0.20 each year until 2023.

Bridge Facts At-A-Glance

A One-Time Payment can be made online with a credit card or by cash, check or money order at Cash Payment Locations*.

It’s free to walk or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. The pedestrian walkway is the east sidewalk that runs along the east (bay) side of the bridge.

There are four easy ways to pay a Golden Gate Bridge toll – a FasTrak Account, License Plate Account, One-Time Payment, and Toll Invoice. Tolls may be paid using credit card, cash, check or money order, and can be paid online, by phone, or in person.

A FasTrak toll tag may be used as payment in any lane when crossing this bridge. You may also use pay-as-you-go license plate accounts and one-time payment accounts in any lane. Cash is only accepted at FasTrak retail locations with a cash payment kiosk. There is no stopping to pay tolls at this bridge.

The Pay-As-You-Go rate will increase 20 cents from $8.40 to $8.60, while the FasTrak Account rate will increase 35 cents from $7.70 to $8.05. The Toll Invoice rate will increase from $8.70 to $9.05, and the carpool rate will increase from $5.70 to $6.05. Multi-axle vehicle rates also will increase.

How much money does the Golden Gate Bridge make per day? Officials said nearly 112,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day, so if you add 25 cents to each car, they’ll make an extra $28,000 a day, which will be over $10 million a year.

112,000 vehicles

There are two towers that hold up the two steel cables anchoring the bridge. Also, there are approximately 80,000 miles of wire inside each of the two steel cables. The towers stand 726 feet above the water and 500 feet above street level. They weigh 44,000 tons each and are 4,200 feet apart from each other.

And yet it’s also a working bridge, with about 200 employees working around the clock maintaining the bridge for more than 100,000 cars crossing daily, as well as pedestrians, bikers and people riding the bridge’s ferries and buses.