Glitches push back start of tolling on 520 bridge

Drivers using the Highway 520 floating bridge will get a few weeks' reprieve from paying tolls after the state decided to delay the scheduled mid-April start.

Tolls are now expected to begin in May or June.

Early problems with the sale of toll devices prompted state leaders to slow their timetable and reduce the potential for bigger problems when tolling starts.

As soon as the marketing blitz to sell "Good to Go" transponders began Feb. 15, customers reported phone calls going unanswered and online orders stalled. State toll director Craig Stone apologized twice, and the vendor, Electronic Transaction Consultants, announced last week it would add staff, improve its telephone system and simplify its website.

"The worst thing that can happen is to start electronic tolling and find out one of your systems aren't working as required to," said state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond.

Each week of delay will cost the state about $1 million in collections, said Stone, who points out there are still 30 years of tolling ahead to cover bond debt. Tolls are expected to support about $1 billion of an overall $4.65 billion project to replace the 1963 four-lane bridge with a six-lane crossing, plus a bike trail.

Rates will vary by time of day, from $1.60 each way in the early morning to $2.25 midday, to $3.50 in the morning and afternoon peak. Drivers who don't have transponders — which function like debit cards — would have their license plates photographed, then be billed in the mail, with a $1.50 surcharge. State lawmakers haven't yet passed a bill to enact toll rates, but Hammond says that's not a cause of the delay.

In ads featuring TV's "Bill Nye the Science Guy," the state has offered an extra $10 of toll value to drivers who open a "Good to Go" account for at least $30 by April 15. A new, later deadline for the bonus will be announced soon, Stone said Thursday.

Nina Klein, of Redmond, said her sign-up ordeal this week entailed a 40-minute online visit, a trip to Safeway to obtain the transponder device, a 20-minute wait on the phone, then a failed attempt to load money to her new account by computer.

"It's been the most frustrating thing," she said.

The state has signed up 42,000 new users with a goal of 100,000, and wait times are improving, said Stone. Sign-ups are now averaging 15 minutes, much of that time spent by customers choosing their options, he said. The firm has caught up with a backlog of 14,000 orders, said Stone.

Hammond said the vendor "is not in compliance yet," while Stone said talks are under way about possible damage payments.

Officials from the company, based in New Jersey, weren't available late Thursday.

The firm has a $2.8 million contract for tolling systems and a $22 million, five-year contract for service and billing, he said.

State officials hope to soon begin tests in which the tolling equipment — affixed to the east high rise — reads data off cars, to ensure tolls can be accurately charged and processed.

In a state news release last week, company CEO Tim Gallagher is quoted: "Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to us. We have been challenged in the first weeks of operations given the higher-than-expected call volumes and are working closely with WSDOT to meet the expectations of our customers."

In a related glitch, the new-generation transponders being sold for Highway 520 can't be read by toll devices at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge approach. Instead, cameras there will read license plates, and that data will be cross-checked to charge drivers' toll accounts the proper rate. DOT has been in talks with TransCore, the collection firm at the Narrows, about switching to equipment that can read the new toll tags. Customers won't notice a problem, even if the situation continues until mid-2012, when the current Narrows contract expires, Hammond said.

There are no tag-reading issues in the Highway 167 high-occupancy or toll (HOT) lanes.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com