RiverLink call wait times falling, officials say

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- RiverLink officials said wait times for drivers calling customer service representatives have decreased in recent weeks, including one day with no waiting at all.

Those "significant improvements" came after Kentucky and Indiana dedicated $3.3 million in January to boost back office help months after Electronic Transaction Consultants (ETC) took over operations of the Ohio River toll bridge system.

The money went toward hiring new workers and increasing pay for local employees.

The states announced the updates in a news release Thursday, saying the average wait time during the week of May 20 was slightly more than two minutes, compared with just over one minute the week before.

The average wait was 19 seconds last Thursday, the release said. In all, 80 people are answering calls each day.

The data show it took RiverLink representatives about 7 minutes to answer calls on average in April, an improvement from more than 17 minutes in March. April also marked the fourth straight month with lower wait times, down from as high as 27 minutes in January.

ETC's goal is to answer 80% of telephone calls within one minute after a caller requests a representative.

"We are continuing to move in the right direction," Amanda Spencer, assistant Kentucky state highway engineer, said in a statement. "Improving the system and the customer experience remains a top priority for both Kentucky and Indiana to ensure customer needs and expectations are being met since transitioning to a new provider."

The news release includes only a selected snapshot of the Ohio River tolling network's effectiveness. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet denied a public records request by WDRB News for full operations reports for January through April last week, calling them "preliminary."

RiverLink spokeswoman Mindy Peterson said in an email that the call wait time data doesn’t come from those reports and was released "because we were seeing positive trends. Given early challenges, it felt important to share that information with the public."

WDRB reported in February that ETC had fallen behind in its performance targets since taking over the toll system last September. RiverLink includes the I-65 Kennedy and Lincoln bridges and the Lewis and Clark Bridge.

At the same time, a clear picture couldn’t emerge because Kentucky officials heavily redacted ETC's reports. WDRB successfully challenged those redactions, winning a ruling from Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office this month.

This story may be updated.