The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District is a

special-purpose district Special districts (also known as special service districts, special district governments, or limited purpose entities) are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from local governments such as county, municipal, and ...

that owns and operates three regional transportation assets 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 ...

: the iconic

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

, the

Golden Gate Ferry Golden Gate Ferry is a commuter ferry service operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District in San Francisco Bay, part of the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. Regular service is run to the Ferry Bui ...

system and the

Golden Gate Transit Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited ser ...

system. All three assets connect

Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...

with San Francisco. In the 1950s and 60s, officials in charge of the Golden Gate Bridge District coordinated to kill the popular

BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

extension into Marin County in order to preserve their own toll revenues.

History and responsibilities

The District was incorporated on December 4, 1928, as the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District to design, construct, and finance the

. The responsibility of regional transit service within the Golden Gate Corridor was given to the District on November 10, 1969, at which time it was given its current name. The District's territory includes the

City and County of San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of 2024, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the ...

; Marin, Sonoma, and Del Norte counties; and large portions of Napa and Mendocino counties. The only other county along the

California North Coast The North Coast of California (also called the Redwood Empire or the Redwood Coast in reference to the dense redwood forests throughout the region) is a region in Northern California that lies on the Pacific coast between San Francisco Bay and th ...

, Humboldt County, declined to join the district after its residents opposed the bridge's construction, fearing that the increase in tourists and newcomers would disrupt the local redwood lumber industry and various cattle and sheep ranches. The District provides regional bus and ferry transit service throughout the Golden Gate Corridor, which runs from San Francisco to Sonoma County. The District does not operate transit service in Napa, Mendocino, or Del Norte counties. Within Marin County, Golden Gate Transit is the contractor for a majority of bus service provided by

Marin Transit Marin Transit is a public bus agency serving Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Marin Transit provides local and rural fixed-route bus services, paratransit services, and school bus services in Mari ...

, a relationship that dates to 1971. Golden Gate Transit has operated bus service across 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 ...

Contra Costa County Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish language, Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a U.S. county, county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...

on behalf of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission since 1993. The District's primary revenue source is tolling on the southbound lanes of the Golden Gate Bridge. (The last of the bridge's construction bonds were retired in 1971, with principal and interest raised entirely from bridge tolls. A mix of tolls, transportation subsidies, and grants is used to support bus and ferry services.

Governing structure

The District has a 19-member

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

: * Nine Directors represent San Francisco ** One is appointed by the Mayor ** Four are elected members of the Board of Supervisors ** Four are non-elected people appointed by the Board of Supervisors * Four Directors represent Marin County ** Two are elected members of the Board of Supervisors ** One is an elected member of the Council of Mayors and Councilmembers and is appointed by the Board of Supervisors ** One is a non-elected person appointed by the Board of Supervisors * Three Directors represent Sonoma County ** One is an elected member of the Board of Supervisors ** One is an elected member of the Council of Mayors and Councilmembers and is appointed by the Board of Supervisors ** One is a non-elected person appointed by the Board of Supervisors * One Director each represent Napa, Mendocino, and Del Norte counties ** Each is a non-elected person appointed by the respective Boards of Supervisors The District is headquartered in San Francisco and has administrative offices in San Francisco and San Rafael. Two members of the board also serve on the

Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a commuter rail service and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project in Sonoma and Marin counties of the U.S. state of California. When completed, the entire system will serve a corridor between Clover ...

board of directors, and operations are coordinated between the two agencies.

References

External links

2018 salaries for Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
{{Authority control Golden Gate Bridge Ferry companies of California Bus transportation in California 1928 establishments in California Organizations established in 1928 Intermodal transportation authorities in California