Golden Gate Bridge board keeps sidewalk toll on table, OKs study

Golden Gate Bridge district officials voted Friday to study charging a toll for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the iconic span, despite strong opposition from cyclists and an effort by the San Francisco delegation to shelve the proposals.

In a 10-9 vote that split almost entirely along San Francisco versus North Bay lines, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District Board of Directors voted to keep the pedestrian and cyclist fee provisions in their 45-point strategic financial plan.

Director John Moylan of San Francisco voted with the majority to study the fee, while Director Kathrin Sears of Marin County voted with the bulk of the San Francisco delegation in its failed effort to kill the cyclist and pedestrian toll ideas.

The move doesn’t mean bridge officials will start charging cyclists and pedestrians to cross the bridge; it just means they’ll study the idea as the district struggles to close a $32.9 million budget deficit over the next five years and deal with $209 million in unfunded capital needs.

Bridge district staff now has until 2017 to research charging pedestrian and cyclists to cross, including how much the fee would be and how much revenue it might raise, and present their findings to the board, which could then vote on whether to start charging bikers and walkers to cross.

“This is not the final document. This opens things up to be studied,” said director Barbara Pahre, who represents Napa County and voted to keep the proposals in play.

Moylan said the bridge district needed to consider other sources of revenue beyond tolls for cars crossing the bridge.

“We’re all in this together,” Moylan said. “It’s not fair, in my opinion, that the people who drive into San Francisco pay for everything.”

The rest of San Francisco’s delegation on the bridge board, though, almost uniformly said the idea of charging pedestrians and cyclists was a nonstarter.

“I think it’s just not a good idea at all,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener. “Cars and trucks are what put the wear and tear on (the bridge). Walkers don’t put wear and tear on it. ... We want people to walk and bike. Charging people to do that doesn’t make sense to me.”

Supervisor David Campos, another member of San Francisco’s contingent, said the idea smacked of privilege and pay-to-play access at a time when many Bay Area residents are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet.

“I think it’s taking us in the wrong direction,” Campos said, describing it as “simply unfair” to charge “for what I think is a public space.”

The bridge district had charged a toll for pedestrians and cyclists decades ago but stopped in the 1970s. Exactly why is unclear, but Priya Clemens, a spokeswoman for the bridge district, said anecdotal information was that people were jumping turnstiles and collection proved ineffective.

John Coté is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jcote@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnwcote