The company that built the toll plaza and set up a toll collection system on the new Tacoma Narrows bridge has given itself passing marks for how the system works. Now it’s up to the state to review the test scores and decide whether TransCore has lived up to its end of a $13 million contract.

The contract between TransCore and the state Department of Transportation sets standards for how efficient and accurate the toll system should be in reading license plates, charging the correct toll, issuing tickets for violations and being available for customer service.

In all, there were six categories. TransCore says it exceeded minimum standards in all categories.

“We just got the report in-house from TransCore,” said Chris Dunster, the DOT’s bridge project business manager. “We’re evaluating the report.”

Dunster said in an interview Friday that state workers are looking at video from cameras to verify that TransCore earned the marks it gave itself. DOT has until mid-February to accept the work as complying with the terms of the contract.

Tests of the tolling system were conducted every day over a 60-day period on November and December, said Ron Landon, bridge project manager for the DOT. TransCore would randomly select a lane of traffic or toll booth and conduct tests for accuracy over at least a two-hour period, he said.

The contract calls for TransCore to capture pictures of license plates for toll violators at least 85 percent of the time. After the initial installation, the company was getting accurate pictures only 60 percent of the time. The rest were too blurry to read.

During the two-month test period, TransCore said, its cameras captured nearly 92 percent of the license plates of those who drove across the bridge without paying. That’s well above the 85 percent mark they guaranteed in the contract.

The contract also requires TransCore to be accurate 99.999 percent of the time when it comes to issuing violation notices. That means no more than 1 mistake for every 100,000 tickets. In the test, the company’s score was perfect.

Acceptance of TransCore’s work is one of the benchmarks for completion of the $735 million bridge construction project.

“We were responsible for overseeing construction of the toll plaza, the gantries, the lights and cameras,” Landon said. “Our job was to make sure the system was supplied and all installed. This is our ending point.”

The installation contract initially was supposed to be $9.2 million. But it grew to $13 million, largely because the state had to buy four times as many transponders from TransCore as was called for in the original contract.

The ongoing operation of the toll collection system is another matter. Its cost also is higher than expected.

TransCore has a five-year contract, through Jan. 31, 2011, to operate the toll system. The operation contract can be extended an additional 10 years – five years at a time – at the state’s option, said Greg Selstead, the DOT toll operations director.

Selstead said he and company officials are trying to renegotiate the initial five-year contract.

State Sen. Derek Kilmer and Reps. Pat Lantz and Larry Seaquist, all Gig Harbor Democrats, have criticized the original operating contract. They say the contact penalizes the state, as well as bridge toll payers, and creates a windfall profit for TransCore because the transponder program was so successful. So many people signed up for automated toll-collection devices that fewer toll booth workers should be needed to collect cash tolls. TransCore will make more than expected because of higher transponder use, and has lower-than-expected operating costs.

TransCore had been in line to get $7 million to operate the bridge first year, but it now appears the company will be paid $18 million for the first two years.

Seaquist said toll payers should benefit from the more efficient bridge and toll-collection operations.

“That should apply to the state (DOT), too,” he said. “Every year, it should cost less.”

Selstead said the first contract renegotiating meeting was held earlier this month. “I can’t get into details, but I can confirm that we are sitting down to talk,” he said.

As part of the operating contract, TransCore must pass a similar set of tests every year, Selstead said.

TransCore also will be operate the toll collection system on Highway 167, set to start this spring. That’s when the state expects to begin charging solo drivers as much as $9 to buy their way into the carpool lanes between Auburn and Renton during the peak of traffic congestion.

Joseph Turner: 253-597-8436

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