No firm date for 520 tolling to begin

Tolling on the Highway 520 bridge — supposed to begin in April — now won't start until August at the earliest, state Department of Transportation (DOT) officials said Wednesday.

Asked if the start date might extend into fall or winter, state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said she could not commit to a firm date.

"I think anything's possible," she said.

Early mock testing of the bridge's tolling system revealed problems with billing for late fees. Tolling will not begin until such glitches have been addressed and the system has been thoroughly vetted, Hammond said.

"It is not going to be acceptable at all to turn on a 520 tolling system on Day 1, Day 2 or Day 6, and find that we have some accounting system or transaction system not working. We're going to get this right," she said.

Tolls will be charged by overhead devices on the bridge's east high rise, so that cars can pass through at highway speed. For people who lack the state "Good to Go" transponder, cameras will record license-plate numbers, and the vehicle owner will be mailed a bill, plus a $1.50 handling surcharge.

Tolls will vary from zero in overnight hours to $3.50 each direction for passenger cars at peak commute times.

DOT Deputy Secretary David Dye and Urban Corridors Administrator Craig Stone went to Texas this month to meet with executives from the toll-collection firm Electronic Transaction Consultants (ETC) — two months after DOT missed its advertised mid-April date to launch 520 tolling.

"We basically said, 'You've got to step up. It's crunchtime and we need your commitment,' " Dye said.

After the trip, Dye and Stone decided the state must take an active role in overseeing the project to guarantee that tolling begins soon and that the system functions properly, Hammond said Wednesday.

State specialists in accounting, information technology and project management are helping ETC, and consultants are conducting "over-the-shoulder reviews," Dye said.

"It was time to change course," Hammond said.

ETC representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

The DOT has said it loses out on $1 million in toll income for each week of delay.

ETC already has agreed to pay $2 million in penalties for missing the April launch, and because the state is dedicating extra oversight and resources for the project, the company also will have to cover those expenses, Hammond said.

The state's contract with ETC calls for $300,000 in weekly penalties if the system is not running by July 9.

Tolls are supposed to support $1.1 billion in construction debt for a new floating bridge, part of the overall $4.65 billion budget for the six-lane replacement between Interstates 5 and 405. Even after gas taxes and federal bridge funds are counted, the project remains $2 billion short.

A new floating section is scheduled to be finished by late 2014, with the fixed segment in Seattle to happen years later.

Texas-based ETC operates 11 other U.S. toll roads, including in the Dallas, Houston and Chicago areas, according to the company.

The company also operates the tolling system on Highway 167 and on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which has been plagued recently with billing glitches.

Dye said this week that people who were assessed some 26,000 toll violations on the bridge starting in mid-May won't have to pay the $52 fine. About 15,000 of those have been converted to normal tolls, and the DOT has asked a district court to dismiss the remaining 11,000 infractions.

Information from Seattle Times archives and The Associated Press is included in this report.

J.B. Wogan: 206-464-2206 or jwogan@seattletimes.com