RiverLink, the local all-electronic tolling system, will be open for business next week even though tolls won't be collected until the end of the year.
Transportation officials announced Thursday that commuters can register prepaid accounts with RiverLink beginning Thursday, July 21. That's also when two customer service centers — one in Jeffersonville and the other in downtown Louisville — will open.
There, customers can pick up local transponders for free, register their accounts and ask any questions related to tolling.
"Since last fall, we've heard one question over and over again — 'When can I open my RiverLink account?'" Megan McClain, innovative finance manager for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said.
The RiverLink customer service center in Jeffersonville is at 103 Quartermaster Court. Louisville's center is located at 400 East Main Street. Both will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday indefinitely. During the first year of operations, the centers will also be open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Registering a RiverLink account is one way to pay for tolls implemented on three Ohio River bridges at the end of the year when construction wraps up — the Lincoln Bridge, east-end bridge and improved Kennedy Bridge. Tolls are paying for the $2.3 billion Ohio River Bridges Project, which more than doubles cross-river capacity.
In addition to visiting service centers, most RiverLink accounts can also be registered online at RiverLink.com or by calling 855-RIV-LINK.
Users can register either personal accounts for individuals or commercial accounts for businesses. Personal accounts will allow up to four vehicles and require a $20 minimum balance. Commercial accounts must have a minimum of five vehicles, with no maximum, and a $20 or more balance.
"We want to make sure that businesses can open accounts as easily as possible," McClain said. "And that's why we recommend that to open a commercial account, you just pick up the phone."
Commercial accounts can also be registered at one of the customer service centers, though McClain said that's not the easiest way. Registering a commercial account can't be done online, though registering a personal account can.
To register, users will need to know the make, model, year and color of their vehicle as well as their license plate number.
There will be three ways to charge prepaid RiverLink accounts — through a local RiverLink transponder, a RiverLink E-ZPass transponder or through a license plate capture.
RiverLink transponders offer the cheapest tolling rates and will also be the only way customers can receive the frequent commuter discount of $1 per single trip with 40 or more trips in a calendar month. Rates range from $2 to $12, depending on the vehicle type and toll collecting method.
"We’re really encouraging people to get a [local] transponder because that’s how you take advantage of the lowest toll rate and the frequent user discount," Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Will Wingfield said.
Local transponders will be available at the two customer service centers or by ordering online or through the phone. These transponders, which act like stickers placed on the inside of windshields, are free for each vehicle.
"It's different than the other type of transponder that once you stick it on the vehicle, it's affixed there permanently," Wingfield said. "If you remove it, you will damage it."
E-ZPass transponders are transferrable between vehicles, though they won't be available next Thursday.
"What we're doing right now is to get this ready so we can make it available to drivers in all 16 E-ZPass states," Wingfield said.
Tolls will be implemented once two of the three bridges are open to traffic. As the Lincoln Bridge is already completed, tolls will be charged when either the east-end bridge or renovated Kennedy Bridge open.
That's likely to be Dec. 9, when the Kennedy opens, McClain said.