Good to Go? Well, not quite yet

The new Good To Go self-service center in Gig Harbor is not quite good to go.

But it’s getting there, the Washington State Department of Transportation says.

The new office is at 5801 Soundview Drive, Suite 50A. WSDOT opted for a “soft opening” July 1 after moving there from its old location. That means some services are not available yet — including cash payments.

“We need to have a safe process to get that money transferred to the bank,” said Patricia Michaud, operation manager. “It takes a bit more thought setting up the process and that’s what we are working on right now.”

Michaud hopes this service will be available to customers within the next two weeks.

In the meantime, customers can use a bank of computers and telephones to order toll stickers, pay their pay-by-mail bills or add money to their Good To Go accounts using debit or credit cars. There are also six customer service representatives to provide assistance.

Good To Go is the state’s automated toll-collection system, used by commuters to pay tolls on the Narrows Bridge and other toll points. Drivers with Good To Go stickers can whiz by the toll plaza, their trip recorded automatically by overhead readers. A pay-by-mail system, using license-plate cameras, is also available.

In fiscal year 2018, ending June 2018, the bridge carried more than 14.8 million tolled trips., according to WSDOT

The Gig Harbor customer service center has been the most popular walk-in center in the state, seeing around 53,000 customers each year. It is operated under contract by AECOM Energy and Construction.

Commuters can also manage their accounts by telephone, but there have been complaints about long wait times. One customer recently complained to The Gateway that he was on hold for an hour after dialing “0” to talk to a real person.

Michaud said it’s better to use the phone tree offered on the dial-up service than to press “0.” That will actually get you to the right place more quickly, she said.

“Pressing zero goes to a specific customer service representative, but if you have a specific action it’s actually faster to choose from the menu offered and go to that activity. You can do it all through the phone system pretty quickly,” Michaud said.

The Good To Go website suggests calling Thursday through Saturday in the morning, as typically this is when call volumes are lower.

WSDOT will be switching to a new tolling system near the end of the year, Michaud said. That’s one of the reasons for the move to the new office.

A new pay-as-you-go option also will be available for new customers once the new system launches.

“Currently when you set up a new Good To Go account, you need to deposit $30, which covers your initial tolls and passes you may need,” said Heather DeRosa, a WDOT public information officer, in May.

“Once the new system goes live, essentially you wave your credit card, debit card or your bank account, and any time you pass any toll facility, it will immediately charge your credit card or withdraw the money for your bank account. There won’t be any need to set up an account with that $30 fee.”

Good to Go passes are also used on the Evergreen Point (SR-520) bridge in Seattle, and HOV lanes on SR-167 between Auburn and Renton and I-405 express lanes between Bellevue and Lynnwood. In the fall, tolling will also begin on the Highway 99 tunnel in Seattle.

This story was originally published August 7, 2019 at 12:00 AM.