Tagged: Good to Go

Today is the first big day for car commuters since automatic tolling went live on the 520 bridge across Lake Washington.

It’s viewed as the start of the first really meaningful data-set for people who crunch numbers behind the scenes of the State Department of Transportation.

So far, the commute has pushed traffic to the south, with the I-90 bridge seeing more congestion … and more room created on 520, where drivers now have to pay to cross.

Get ready for tolling charges on the 520 bridge.

The state department of transportation will be flipping a virtual switch one week from today.

That means now is a really good time to set up a Good to Go account online – or face more expensive travel.

Tolling on the 520 Bridge will start at 5 am on December 29th.

That’s the word from the state Department of Transportation, after multiple glitches that have delayed the system till now.

It’s not yet clear exactly when, but sometime in December, the state Department of Transportation is due to start collecting tolls on the 520 Bridge.

Cities along the northern edge of Lake Washington have been bracing themselves for the change. 

[UPDATE 2:25 p.m:from the WSDOT: No additional toll infractions to users of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will be issued until glitches in the tolling system operated by a Texas-based company are resolved, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said today.
 
WSDOT Deputy Secretary David Dye said the department is implementing an internal financial audit of Electronic Transaction Consultants Corp. (ETCC) of Texas, the company that took over toll operations on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in February.
 
Also today, Gov. Chris Gregoire asked Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond to reconvene a Tolling Expert Review Panel to conduct a mid-course assessment of the performance of ETCC. The panel originally was convened in 2009 by the Joint Transportation Committee and made recommendations on customer service center operations and tolling-violation enforcement.]

[Oringinal story] Some 18,000 drivers have been sent notices that they failed to pay their toll on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the past few weeks. Now, a Gig Harbor legislator is asking for an emergency audit of the state Department of Transportation and its management of tolls on the span.

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Carpool Tolls Likely on I-405
• Not Guilty Plea in Prison Guard Murder Charge
• Grand Jury Request by Woodcarver's Family

I-405 Carpool Tolls Coming?

As drivers get ready to pay new tolls this spring to cross the Highway 520 floating bridge – more tolls could be on the way.  State lawmakers have proposed charging cars with only one or two people in them to use carpool lanes on I-405 from Lynnwood to Bellevue.