The agency that runs the Golden Gate Bridge is looking for ways to plug its $132M deficit
LOS ANGELES TIMES
3 January 2010
Benigno Rodriguez, in town for the holidays, has it all figured out.
For an elevator ride to the very top of the Golden Gate Bridge’s international orange towers, 746 feet above San Francisco Bay, the visitor from Madrid, Spain, would shell out five bucks.
For a chance to tour the famed structure’s catwalks beneath the busy roadway, he’d pay another $5. And to climb the sturdy but delicate cables? "Ooh, la, la!" Rodriguez said as he walked the bridge, camera in hand. "Ten dollars."
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the cash-strapped agency that operates America’s second-longest – but arguably most beloved – suspension bridge is seeking ways to fill its five-year, $132-million deficit without increasing tolls in the near future.
One idea under serious consideration is to give bridge lovers from around the world a chance to do more than just
drive, walk or bicycle across this graceful city’s most famous landmark and charge them amply for the opportunity.
"People get pretty nuts about this bridge, and if you have a behind-the-scenes tour – albeit on a catwalk – people would be jazzed," said Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.
"It’s the idea of going somewhere where no one’s been before, sort of the ‘Star Trek’ thing."
The district’s inspiration is the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, a guided trek along Australia’s answer to the Golden Gate. Since 1998, 2.4 million visitors have paid for the chance to clamber 440 feet above the scenic Southern Hemisphere waterway.
The concession runs 24 hours a day, and the priciest climb is a dawn excursion at around $250. The Sydney climb’s website boasts that the experience can help cure acrophobia. Climbers are hooked to the bridge by a protective line and are required to take an alcohol breath test before embarking.
The Golden Gate transit district has begun accepting so-called statements of qualifications – applications from companies that are interested in the possible bridge concession in which they offer proof that they have experience running a safe, tasteful venue on "an iconic structure of worldwide renown."
To gauge their interest, district officials have reached out to the companies that operate the Sydney climb, the Eiffel Tower and the Kennedy Space Centre. The application period ends Jan. 26, and the district hopes to make a decision about moving forward by the end of February.
Even without an opportunity to get up close and personal with the bridge, tourism officials say the Golden Gate is the city’s No. 3 attraction, behind Fisherman’s Wharf and the historic cable cars. District officials estimate that a bridge concession could raise around $9 million per year.
If the bridge district does decide to move forward with a tour proposal, it might try to time the kickoff to coincide with the bridge’s 75th anniversary in 2012, Currie said.
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Golden Gate Bridge facts
Opening day toll, May 23, 1937: 50 cents each way for cars
Today’s toll: $5 for cars using FasTrak or $6 cash (Modern tolls are collected only in southbound lanes.)
Transportation District shortfall:
$132 million over five years
Height of towers above the water:
746 feet
Height of roadway above the water:
220 feet
Total length of wire used to build the bridge: 129,000 kilometres
Annual vehicle crossings: 39.3 million (North and southbound together, FY 2007-08.)
Source: Highlights, Facts & Figures, sixth edition, July 2009
Sydney, Australia