The California Toll Bridge Authority was an agency of the State of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, responsible for the building and acquisition of toll bridges, and for the management and operations of toll bridges and "highway crossings" owned by the state. It was created by legislative act in 1929 (Stats. 1929, Ch.763, p.1480). It was abolished by legislative act in 1977 and its responsibilities transferred to the newly created

California Transportation Commission The California Transportation Commission (CTC) is an independent government transportation commission established in 1978. The CTC replaced and assumed the responsibilities of four prior independent agencies, the California Highway Commission, ...

(Stats. 1977, Ch. 1106), effective in 1978. A separate successor agency, the

Bay Area Toll Authority The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) is a state agency created by the California State Legislature in 1997 to administer the auto tolls on the San Francisco Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges. On January 1, 1998, the Metropolitan Transport ...

, was created in 1997 to operate the state's toll bridges in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, while tolls were eventually removed on the state's

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

bridges by 2002.

History

The first project of the Authority was the construction of the

San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, commonly referred to as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 in California, Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco an ...

. On September 16, 1940, the Authority purchased two private toll bridges, the

Carquinez Bridge The Carquinez Bridge is a pair of parallel bridges spanning the Carquinez Strait at the northeastern end of San Francisco Bay. They form the part of Interstate 80 between Crockett and Vallejo, California, United States. The name Carquinez B ...

and the

Antioch Bridge The Antioch Bridge (officially the Senator John A. Nejedly Bridge) is an automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian bridge in the western United States. Located in northern California, it crosses the San Joaquin River-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Chann ...

. On December 29, 1947, Director of Public Works Charles H. Purcell created the Division of San Francisco Bay Toll Crossings to carry out the planning, construction, and operations of all state-owned toll bridges. On September 12, 1951, the Authority purchased two private toll bridges, the

San Mateo–Hayward Bridge The San Mateo–Hayward Bridge (commonly called the San Mateo Bridge) is a bridge crossing the American state of California's San Francisco Bay, linking the San Francisco Peninsula with the East Bay. The bridge's western end is in Foster Cit ...

and the Dumbarton Bridge. On November 7, 1952, the Authority authorized the issuance of the first bonds for the construction of the

Richmond–San Rafael Bridge The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (officially renamed the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in 1981) is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of California's San Francisco Bay, carrying Interstate 580 from Richmond on the east to San R ...

. On June 16, 1955, the Authority authorized the issuance of bonds for the construction of the

Benicia–Martinez Bridge The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay in California. The spans link Benicia, California, Benicia on the north side with Martinez, California, Martinez on the south ...

and a second

. On November 18, 1963, by state legislation, the Division of San Francisco Bay Toll Crossings was re-named the "Division of Bay Toll Crossings", and established as a statutory unit of the State Department of Public Works. In 1959, the Authority authorized the issuance of bonds for the San Pedro-Terminal Island Bridge (subsequently re-named the

Vincent Thomas Bridge The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a suspension bridge, crossing Los Angeles Harbor in Los Angeles, California, linking San Pedro with Terminal Island. It is the only suspension bridge in the Greater Los Angeles area. The bridge is part of State ...

), but only after additional funding was obtained from the State of California as the bonds were considered insufficient. On May 14, 1964, the Authority authorized the construction of the

San Diego–Coronado Bridge The San Diego–Coronado Bridge, commonly referred to as the Coronado Bridge, is a prestressed concrete/steel girder bridge, girder fixed-link bridge crossing over San Diego Bay, linking San Diego with Coronado, California. It is signed as part ...

. Overlapping authority over the operation of the various toll bridges existed with the Division of Highways Bridge Department,''California Highways and Public Works'', November-December, 1964, p.68-69
/ref> and with the Division of Bay Toll Crossings.

References

{{reflist Government of California Road transportation in California 1929 establishments in California Toll road authorities of the United States 1977 disestablishments in California