Traffic Payout

By guest blogger Emily Pace

Tolling on the SR 520 bridge started December 29, 2011. If you’ve driven across the bridge, you might have noticed there are no toll booths. So if there are no toll booths, how do you pay the toll? Well, you can set up a Good To Go! account and always pay the lowest toll rate. If you don’t have an account no need to worry, we’ll send you a bill in the mail.

So how do we do it? If you don’t have a Good To Go! account, tolling equipment takes a photo of the license plate and the registered owner is sent a bill in the mail. Drivers can expect to receive a bill within seven days of traveling across the SR 520 bridge. The Pay By Mail rate is $1.50 more than the Good To Go! pass toll rate. That $1.50 covers the extra processing costs required to generate each bill.

While Pay By Mail is a great option for those who choose it, we would like to see more drivers saving $1.50 each time they cross the bridge rather than getting a bill in the mail.

More Good To Go! drivers crossing SR 520 bridge
Our goal was to have 50 percent of vehicles using a Good To Go! pass, and thanks to our customers, we have exceeded that number – on Friday, Jan. 6 (just a week after tolling started), 70 percent of drivers crossing the bridge had Good To Go! passes. That means we’ll be sending thousands less toll bills than we thought.

How to pay a toll bill
Drivers can pay their toll bill online, by calling 1-866-936-8246, by mail or in person at a customer service center in Seattle, Bellevue or Gig Harbor.

I have a Good To Go! Pass, why did I receive a toll bill?
You likely didn’t activate the pass. If you bought a Good To Go! sticker pass at a retail store and did not activate it by opening a new account or adding it to an existing account, you will receive a toll bill in the mail. If you activated your pass, there may be other reasons you received a toll bill. The best way to get things straightened out and avoid future Pay By Mail toll bills is to contact customer service at 1-866-936-8246.

What happens if I don’t pay my toll bill?
If you don’t pay your bill within 15 days, another bill will be sent along with an additional $5.00 administrative fee. If the toll bill is not paid within 80 days, the driver will be issued a $40 Notice of Civil Penalty for each unpaid toll charge. Similar to a parking ticket, the civil penalty may be contested through an administrative court proceeding. If you don’t pay or contest the civil penalty it may jeopardize your ability to renew your vehicle registration.

Our goal is to make tolling convenient and easy. Please visit our website to get more answers and information about toll bills.

If you have questions or concerns regarding a toll bill, civil penalty or Good To Go! account please call 1-866-936-8246 or email GoodToGo@GoodToGo.wsdot.wa.gov.