Golden Gate Bridge travel guide describes the Golden Gate Bridge as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of and a total height of . Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. A ferry service began as early as 1820, with a regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for the
West Gate Bridge $2.5 billion. Police data show up to one suicide occurs every three weeks at the West Gate Bridge. A 2004 coroner's report recommended anti-suicide fencing or barriers be erected on the bridge to deter people from attempting to end their lives. In 2008, the bodies of a mother in her late 20s and her 18-month-old baby were found on the river bank below the West Gate Bridge, prompting further calls to erect a suicide barrier. Those who argue for a suicide barrier claim that most of those who jump from the West Gate Bridge do so through impulse and that