Sullivan: Wait, Flex Passes go bad? Who knew?

Here is another really good reason to check your Good To Go statement every month when you get your email notification. Your Flex Pass may not last forever.

I haven’t thought about my Flex Pass in the nine years since I installed it. This is the pass you put in your window that allows you to drive for free in the Interstate 405 (I-405) express toll lanes when you meet the HOV requirement. It can switch between toll and HOV.

David, a KIRO Newsradio listener, reached out to me this week with the subject line “Flex Passes and the hidden renewal fee.” He drives from Marysville to Bothell and recently noticed he was being tolled when he shouldn’t have been. His Flex Pass had failed and he had to buy a new one.

He found out that the passes go bad over time and, to be honest, I had never even thought about this.

News related to public transportation: Mass problems for Western Washington’s mass transit

I asked Lauren McLaughlin at the state tolling division about flex pass lifespans.

“Like all electronics, they do have a finite lifespan,” McLaughlin said. “If you purchase your pass through Good To Go, they come with a three-year warranty where, if it starts to malfunction or fail in that time, we’ll replace it free of cost. But the vast majority of passes continue to function well beyond that three years.”

As I said, mine has been going great for nine years.

Is this something drivers should be planning for?

“I don’t know that I would say plan for it every couple years because these passes do usually last well beyond that,” McLaughlin said. “But it wouldn’t hurt to recognize that.”

So, it’s not really a one-time $15 fee for the pass. You will likely have to spend $15 several times over the years as your passes go bad. I’m not sure this qualifies as a “hidden fee” as listener David wrote, but there is nothing about the Flex Pass’ lifespan on the Good To Go website.

What should you look for on your bill that will give you an indication that your pass is failing?

“Usually, the first indication you get that your pass has gone bad is when you’re looking at your monthly statement and you start seeing a $0.25 fee, or there’s this photo fee,” McLaughlin said.

It’s a good reminder to check your account once a month. It’s something I’m going to start doing. I’ve been pretty passive in monitoring my account up to now.

“If it happens once, it could just be a glitch,” McLaughlin said. “If you start to see it happening more frequently, that’s an indication that when you use that toll road, our system couldn’t find the Flex Pass in your car, and we had to use your license plate number to identify that trip. So if you start to see that a lot, that’s a good indication that your pass is failing.”

And you should call Good To Go to figure out what’s happening. Your pass might have gone bad.

More from Chris Sullivan: Direct route between Mukilteo and Everett to be cut for a year

Extreme conditions can also cause the passes to fail prematurely.

“Ultimately, the passes are just plastic and a computer chip, so the same factors that affect all electronics are going to affect the passes,” McLaughlin said. “Age, extreme heat, rough handling, that kind of thing.”

Under this definition, extreme heat would be a long time in a desert, not a Washington summer.

Bottom line: Flex Passes wear out, and you’ll likely have to buy new ones.

Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints here. You can also follow Chris on X. Head here to follow KIRO Newsradio Traffic’s profile on X

Follow @https://twitter.com/newsguysully