WSDOT Gig Harbor office isn’t Good to Go any more. It’s closing due to toll shortfall
The Good to Go customer service center in Gig Harbor will not re-open even when the all-clear sounds, the state Department of Transportation has announced.
The closure is the result of a $32 million shortfall in toll revenue since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, the department said. A service center in Bellevue will also close.
The Gig Harbor walk-in center at 5801 Soundview Dr. has been open less than a year. It was closed temporarily in March as a coronavirus control measure.
The office was used by commuters to manage their Good to Go automated toll card accounts, mostly for the Narrows Bridge and state ferries.
Closing the two offices wills save the state about $1.7 million a year, WSDOT said in a release on Friday, June 6.
The Gig Harbor office opened July 1 of last year. Customers could 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 cash, debit or credit cards. There were also six customer service representatives to provide assistance.
Services available online
Users can access the same services on the WSDOT website, MyGoodToGo.com, the agency suggests, or use an automated telephone system at 1-866-936-8246. The telephone service is available 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.
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.
According to the most recent financial report, toll revenues in the first quarter of the year dropped to $18 million from $26 million in the previous quarter — and that included only about two weeks of the state-ordered shutdown of schools and stores that kept many commuters home. Second-quarter figures are expected to be much worse.
The Gig Harbor customer service center was once the most popular walk-in center in the state, seeing around 53,000 customers each year. It was operated under contract by AECOM Energy and Construction.
WSDOT did not immediately answer a query about the fate of the six employees in the office.
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, I-405 express lanes between Bellevue and Lynnwood, and the Highway 99 tunnel in Seattle.
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 4:29 PM.