by Nicole Bradford
The Texas Department of Transportation announced that the Harris County Toll Road Authority will take over toll transaction processing and account billing for customers using TxDOT toll roads in Houston and Austin.
The goal is to simplify billing and avoid fees from multiple toll operators in the same region, TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams said.
“Customers could see less fees and it’ll help keep tolls low going forward,” he said.
TxDOT entered a Toll Services Agreement with HCTRA on Nov. 6. Under the agreement, TxDOT will continue to own and maintain its toll roads in the Austin and Houston metro areas, and the Texas Transportation Commission will retain responsibility for setting toll rates on TxDOT-owned roads.
TxTag.org and TxTag systems will go into maintenance mode on Nov. 15-Nov. 18 to prepare accounts for transfer to HCTRA. During this period, customers will not be able to log in to their accounts, update account information, make payments, or receive account-specific assistance from customer service representatives.
Customers on TxDOT toll roads in Austin and Houston regions will now be billed through HCTRA rather than TxTag. Customers whose accounts are transferred to HCTRA will not be able to access their account until Dec. 2. No late fees will be assessed during the blackout period. More information about these blackout periods can be found on TxTag.org.
