New RiverLink toll collector begins work on Ohio River bridge network

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A new company has taken over toll collection on the RiverLink system.

Texas-based Electronic Transaction Consultants assumed the reins from Kapsch TrafficCom on Friday and now is in charge of customer service and toll collections. Kentucky and Indiana officials chose ETC in 2021 under a 10-year contract estimated at nearly $80 million.

The switch comes with several key changes that mainly affect drivers who don't have a RiverLink account tied to a transponder and instead get billed in the mail for crossings on the Interstate 65 Lincoln and Kennedy bridges and the upriver Lewis and Clark Bridge.

Those invoices now will be sent monthly — a departure from sporadic billing cycles. And as part of the operations change, those drivers haven't been billed for crossing the Ohio River since April 1, said Mindy Peterson, a RiverLink spokeswoman.

But that will change in October, when bills for those crossings are set to be mailed.

"So as the first monthly bills hit, it's super important for those customers to know: We're not making a mistake. That's the way the system is supposed to work. They're going to see those older crossings. They made those crossings. They owe for those crossings," Peterson said.

She cautioned those drivers to prepare for those invoices but said the rates would be reduced to lower transponder rates if people sign up for an account. It now costs $5.04 to cross the river without a transponder, that rate is $2.52 with a transponder tied to a prepaid account.

ETC also is debuting a new customer service center in downtown Louisville at 204 S. Floyd Street. It also is launching a Louisville-based call center in eastern Jefferson County that employs 65 people, according to a press release.

A similar location at 103 Quartermaster Court in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday, when the Louisville site also will open.