The South Bay Expressway is the only freeway in San Diego County that is only accessible by paying a toll.
Roughly 54,000 drivers use the state Route 125 toll road each day, but local leaders believe that number should – and would – be much higher if people didn’t have to pay to use it.
The 10-mile extension through Chula Vista was purchased by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) in 2011.
The tolls, which range from 50 cents to $2.75 per trip, are supposed to be used to maintain the road, but multiple audits have found problems with the systems used to collect the tolls, which resulted in tens of thousands of drivers being incorrectly charged.
On top of that, Chula Vista mayor John McCann said, it’s unclear where the money went.
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In April, SANDAG’s interim CEO took responsibility for the missteps and the board created a Toll Operations Action Plan. At that time, San Diego County Board of Supervisors chair Nora Vargas, who also serves as the chair of the SANDAG board, said it was “committed to navigating the organization in the right direction, ensuring accountability at every level.”
McCann and other South Bay leaders, however, believe the tolls should be removed immediately.
McCann said Chula Vista residents already pay for SR-125, through the gas tax and TransNet sales tax, and shouldn’t have to pay a third time to drive on it.
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“Other roads, you may have a FasTrak, but there are [lanes] to drive on the roads free," McCann said. "We are the only city that has a toll road that’s 100% and we’re being triple taxed. And we need to stop that.”
