Good to Go system to shut down for two weeks, tolls still collected
May 27, 2021, 6:08 AM | Updated: 8:17 am
The Good To Go! Sticker Pass adheres to the windshield near the rearview mirror. (Photo courtesy of WSDOT/Flickr)
(Photo courtesy of WSDOT/Flickr)
Good to Go toll users will soon need to get their accounts in order, with the system set to shut down for two weeks as the state installs a new website and updates the customer service center.
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The Good to Go tolling system goes dark June 18. After 10 years of service, the website just doesn’t do what customers need it to, and the call center needed an upgrade.
“Our Good to Go website and our customer service phone line will be offline and unavailable,” said Jennifer Charlebois with the Washington State Department of Transportation. “Customers won’t be able to access their accounts or make payments, but we will still be collecting tolls.”
Two new vendors are now onboard for the upgrades. The goal is to make most transactions doable online, without having to contact the call center.
Right now, if you need to change your password, update your payment information, or dispute a toll, you had to go through the call center. After the update, all of that will be available online.
“We really tried to focus on modernizing the website and focusing on the customer experience, adding a lot more self-service functionality, based on what we heard from our customers, the things that they do most commonly that they want to be able to do on their own, online, without having to call into the customer service center,” Charlebois said.
You will no longer have to put $30 on your account and keep a balance. You will be able to pay as you go. Your credit card will be charged for each trip. You will be able to request a callback while waiting on hold with customer service if you don’t have the time to hang on the line. You will also be able to request text alerts from Good to Go.
The call center’s Patty Michaud said it’s all about making things more efficient for the customer.
“We all got together and took feedback from customers and also from the call center to try to develop tools to make things more efficient,” she said. “Once we have it up and running, we’re hopeful that customers will use our website more often, and that will make it more efficient for our customer service reps to help customers.”
The call center is hiring about 150 new people to train on the new system.
The entire system will be down for two weeks, so Charlebois is asking the two million Good to Go customers to check their accounts before everything goes dark.
“It would be a great idea for them to take a look at their account and make sure that all of their contact information is up to date,” she said. “They should also consider adding funds to their account, prior to our shutdown. For customers that don’t have accounts, if they have a couple Good to Go toll bills sitting on their kitchen counters, it’s a great idea for them to pay those now.”
As Charlebois mentioned, tolls will continue to be collected during the two-week shutdown, but you will get extra time to pay or dispute your bills. No one will be penalized while the system is down.
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