The Golden Gate Bridge has swapped tollbooths for a new system that will electronically collect fare and photograph all license plates that travel across its red gates. The move, officials say, will save an expected $17 million over the span of eight years, in addition to speeding up traffic.
The new system costs about $3.4 million to put into use.
Toll collectors finished their final shifts Tuesday at midnight, when the final driver handed over six dollars for the last time. Some embraced, tears escaping their tired eyes. Most are unhappy with the switch, including Dawnette Reed, 43 who began working as a toll collector at 26.
"I never thought that I would ever end my career at the bridge," she told the Associated Press. "The bridge won't be the same without us."
Nine collectors will be laid off and an additional 17 will relocate to various district positions or plan to retire, Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, said.
"It was a difficult decision and involved the loss of some very dedicated staff," she said in an interview Wednesday.
Some toll collectors are angered by the fact that their work will no longer be.
"We are a part of [this bridge]," said Jacquie Dean, who has worked for the bridge for 18 years. "Some customers still want to pay cash. They don't want to be tracked and photographed."
Nearly 70 percent of motorists already utilize electronic passes called FasTrak to drive over the widely-used Bay Bridge that connects Oakland to San Francisco-a common commute in the Bay Area.
But the human capital is far greater than the numeric-in a recent Marin Independent Journal editorial titled, "Golden Gate Bridge Toll-Takers Will Be Missed," the board writes, "The transaction with toll-takers usually lasts only a few seconds, but motorists have their favorites...After having been on the job, around the clock, for more than 75 years, the Golden Gate Bridge's toll-takers will be missed."
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