Restore T.R.U.S.T.

by: MICHAEL McNUTT NewsOK.com and Tulsa World
Thursday, July 09, 2009
7/9/2009 4:33:14 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY — Allowing PikePass account holders to update their vehicle tag information online is significantly cutting the number of telephone calls for assistance to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, which was swamped last month when $25 violation notices were sent out.

PikePass customers may now open an account online without having to call the authority's office. They will assign themselves a four-digit code and can sign on anytime to update information on their tags, credit card to be billed or change of address.

"That's been a huge step, to eliminate that call in for the access code," authority spokesman Jack Damrill said Wednesday.

Last month, the authority sent out nearly six times the normal number of automatic violation notices to active account holders whose PikePasses had been misread and their vehicle tag numbers had changed.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission issued new license tags this year and, in most cases, the tag numbers were new also.

PikePass customers whose devices weren't recorded correctly likely received a $25 violation notice because their information did not match the new tag numbers.

"We're pretty much back to normal," Damrill said. "Our call volume is still kind of high and they're still working with a lot of people, but for the most part we've taken steps to get everything back to normal."

The authority also is working on a database with the Tax Commission to update tag information.

"It was tough on us for awhile, but people actually became vigilant and actually started calling us just to update their information," Damrill said. "We actually had more people call than we actually had violations. It really helped us update a lot of people's information."

The authority has suspended its system that automatically sends violation notices, he said.

For now, the authority has gone to a manual system to check the violations with account holder information.

mmcnutt@opubco.com