Virus impact hits Golden Gate Bridge revenue

An internationally recognized American landmark is in financial trouble due to the coronavirus crisis.

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is losing about three million dollars a week, according to bridge officials, as traffic on the iconic span has plummeted 70 percent since the city's shelter-in-place order went into effect three weeks ago.

Those losses include both depleted toll revenue and a 90 precent decrease in fares from bus and ferries, which the bridge district also operates.

Bridge district officials say those funds are needed for the daily operation of the bridge, as well as ongoing seismic retrofits and the near constant maintenance and painting needed along the 87-year-old span.

Most bridges in California are state run but the district is the sole operator of the Golden Gate Bridge, surviving mainly off tolls.

More than one billion dollars in emergency federal funds were just freed up last week for transportation agencies across the country, but it's not yet clear how much of that money will be allocated to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The picturesque, nearly two-mile span connects San Francisco with Marin County, California where the bay meets the Pacific Ocean.

When it opened in 1937, it was both the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world.

It's also believed to be the most photographed bridge on Earth.