The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) awards TransCore a five-year, multi-million dollar contract to provide a comprehensive technology and services solution for toll collection on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Under the contract, TransCore will be responsible for the customer service center, violations processing, system administration, auditing, maintenance, money room counting and in-lane manual toll collection. TransCore's wireless RFID paper-thin eGo(R) Plus sticker tag will be used for wireless payment; the system is slated to be operational in spring 2007 when the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens.
When in full operation, WSDOT will deploy three high-speed open-road tolling (ORT) lanes as well as six additional manual lanes, allowing motorists to pay using cash, credit card or wireless tag payment. TransCore's Forte software will be used to manage the toll system, process transactions, manage lanes, enforce toll violations and link together the Tacoma Narrows Bridge toll collection system, store fronts and back office operations.
"Our ability to offer a comprehensive host of capabilities simplifies the operation, providing a single point of responsibility and fully integrated technology and service," said John Worthington, president of TransCore.
Motorists will have access to walk-up service at two customer service center store locations, one in Gig Harbor and another in Tacoma. In addition, a mobile customer service center is planned to deploy at promotional events. The system will offer automated telephone and web-based access to customer service and electronic toll collection (ETC) account management.
WSDOT joins several other toll authorities in choosing TransCore to handle customer service and back-office operations. Delaware's E-ZPass customer service and violation processing center, operated by TransCore, recently won the International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association's Toll Innovation and Excellence Award in the customer service category.
TransCore's customer service experience began in 1989, when the company opened one of the first ETC customer service centers. Since then, TransCore has developed and currently operates 11 customer service and violations processing centers with another 15 being operated by its customers. Together TransCore's service centers support millions of ETC customers and process millions of transactions each day.
TransCore's eGo technology was recommended based on an independent analysis that noted eGo's superior performance in terms of cost, compatibility with existing and planned projects in the state and flexibility as technology changes.