There will be intermittent full closures of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge beginning 9:00AM on Friday, January 15 and continuing until 12 Noon. Bridge users should expect up to 20 minutes delays during these hours.

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NOTIFICATION OF TICKET SALE DISCONTINUATION

PORT ANNOUNCES BRIDGE TICKET SALES TO END
JANUARY 1, 2016
HOOD RIVER, OR – The Port of Hood River will cease sales of bridge toll tickets at the first of the year in preparation for transition to a new tolling system. “Pre-sold tickets for bridge tolls are being phased out across the country as electronic tolling is becoming the standard,” says Port Chief Financial Officer Fred Kowell. “Because of this trend, any new tolling system or upgrade will not support ticket sales or redemption functions.”
The Port will stop selling bridge tickets on January 1, 2016 but will continue to accept tickets for toll payment at the toll booth until the new system is operational, expected to occur in summer of 2016. Unused tickets can be tendered at the Port office for a refund or credit toward a BreezeBy electronic tolling account.
“Currently, about 18% of bridge tolls are paid via the pre-paid tickets,” says Kowell. “Of that user group, we expect about 60% will establish new BreezeBy electronic tolling accounts and the rest will become cash customers.” The Port has considered discontinuing ticket sales for several years due to high overhead production and accounting costs. The new tolling system will enable real-time updates to BreezeBy customer accounts as well as a new web portal for customer account management. “These are customer service upgrades that have been needed for a long time,” says Port Executive Director Michael McElwee. “Our goal is to ensure an easy transition to a more user-friendly option for those individual and business customers that currently use the tickets.”
For questions about the tolling system upgrade or how to redeem tickets, please call the Port of Hood River office at (541) 386-1645 or email porthr@gorge.net.
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