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金門大橋管理局提議金門大橋要徵行人過橋費 (包括行人, 單車騎士等)
(心裡的OS: 希望不會通過...)新聞來源: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15778967
Golden Gate Bridge board member says pedestrian tolls should fund suicide barrier
By Mark Prado , Marin Independent Journal
Posted: 08/14/2010 07:15:09 AM PDT / Updated: 08/14/2010 07:15:09 AM PDT
Pedestrians using the Golden Gate Bridge should be required to pay a toll to help fund a suicide barrier on the span, a member of the Golden Gate Bridge district's Board of Directors said Friday.
Director Joanne Sanders, a councilwoman from the city of Sonoma, said anyone using the span should pay for that privilege.
"There is a connection between allowing people to walk on the bridge and the cost associated with the deterrent," she told the bridge board. "The cost to make this a reality should be borne by the pedestrians who are accessing it. I hope we can move that closer to being a top priority to help fund the barrier."
Sanders' comments came on the same day the bridge district accepted $5 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for the design and engineering of a net system to prevent people from jumping from the span.
"We should look at all forms of revenue, not just people paying tolls getting to and from work in their cars," Sanders said. "Everybody who uses the bridge should be paying to use the bridge."
The district is considering a "sidewalk access fee" for pedestrians and bicyclists to help solve its five-year, $132 million deficit, but it will not happen right away, officials said.
"With all the work going on right now, with the retrofit and cable restoration, it's off the table for the near term," said Mary Currie, bridge district spokeswoman.
Family members of those who have
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jumped from the span were pleased to see the $5 million from the transportation commission to continue efforts on the barrier project.
On June 26, Daniel Richards, 53, jumped to his death from the bridge after losing his job and dealing with his father's health issues, said his wife, Patricia Richards of Pleasant Hill.
"The whole thing was a horrible shock and he did it with great ease," Richards told the bridge board Friday, her voice breaking with emotion. "He was walking along and put down his backpack and hopped right over."
David Hull of San Francisco, whose daughter Kathy jumped from the bridge seven years ago, also spoke to the board.
"Today is another one of those happy days," he said. "You are doing the right thing."
It will cost $45 million to build a barrier. The barrier plan - approved by the bridge board in February - calls for a net extending 20 feet below and 20 feet from the side of the span. The net would be made from stainless steel cable and would collapse slightly if someone jumped in, making it difficult to get out, bridge officials said.
Roughly two dozen people jump from the span each year, and more than 1,300 people have jumped since it opened in 1937.
The debate over a suicide barrier has ebbed and flowed for decades. Discussion of a barrier began in the 1950s, but the first intensive look at a solution took place in the early 1970s, when 18 design concepts were evaluated, then shelved.
The issue received national attention when filmmaker Eric Steel revealed he spent all of 2004 filming people leaping from the span for a documentary titled "The Bridge."
Outgoing bridge General Manager Celia Kupersmith voiced her support for a barrier and praised the design work as a way to eventually stop suicides from the span.
"I wouldn't want this happening in my backyard," she said. "The bridge is our backyard. I'm excited to see a wonderful, tangible outcome."
Contact Mark Prado via e-mail at mprado@marinij.com
