How to beat Bay Area bridge tolls [Silicon Valley Users Guide].

Today's San Francisco Examiner helpfully reports that drivers who simply whiz through the FasTrak lanes without a pass aren't being punished, or even identified. "We're basically hoping drivers will be decent human beings," says a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which manages the seven FasTrak bridges in the Bay Area. (The Golden Gate Bridge is managed separately.) 112,295 drivers -- not sure if that counts repeats -- flew though the gateless toll stations without being caught in November, because their license plates weren't readable. 49,013 more escaped because of equipment malfunctions. The upshot of the Examiner 's report: The MTC isn't about to start cracking down. Go for it, cheapskate. (Photo by the San Francisco Examiner ) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]