“That tag will be taking my money like a taxi meter.”

Hunting the wily TxTag

July 10, 2006

Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006

Well, I did it.

Last week, I signed up for a toll tag, called "TxTag" for Central Texas customers. Dallas and Houston have different systems and different names for their tags, although all of them will work in all three places.

Given all the hullabaloo over toll roads, it seemed almost like a political act to order one of the stickers. But given the situation, it would be an act of stupidity not to get one.

The tag, which you attach to your windshield just below the rearview mirror, will communicate with overhead toll readers and allow tagholders to drive without stopping at booths on the coming Austin-area toll roads. Plus, tag holders will get a 10 percent discount. And it costs nothing to get one. Well, kind of.

I decided to pretend I wasn't a reporter who knew a lot about this, but rather a regular Joe out to get a tag. I Googled "Austin toll tag."

There was no sign of the txtag.org site on the first five pages (at least) of the almost 491,000 entries this churned up. The first entry was "magnifisyncopathological: Austin Toll Roads" which turned out to be "the opinions of a libertarian anarchist in Austin, Texas." As you might expect, these were not supportive opinions about toll roads.

Anyway, unless you know the name of the tag, finding it could be a bit difficult. The Transportation Department plans to address that starting in August with a multi-front ad campaign.

I then went to txtag.org, and there was a prominent box on the home page saying, "Get your TxTag account" and "click here." So, I clicked.

The application seemed doable. Then I saw a box that will probably hang up most people trying to finish it someplace where they have Internet access and a lot of free time. Like, you know, at work.

It asks for your license plate number. So, a trip out to the parking lot. Got it. Back to the Internet.

Then I decided, as some of you might, "I'm about to make a lasting commitment to these toll people. I ought to have a personal relationship with them."

So I called 1-888-GoTxTag (468-9824). After a short trip through the voice mail matrix, I found myself talking to a cheerful woman named Martha from the turnpike authority's North Austin service center who explained it all.

You have to give them a major credit card number, at least over the phone or on the Internet, and they immediately take $20 for your account. The agency will have other ways you can obtain a card with cash.

With the credit card, it will automatically dun me for $20 whenever my balance falls below $10. You have a couple of long numbers you'll have to keep handy to access the account, she said. Your name alone won't be enough.

Martha says business has been a bit slow so far. I found out later that the agency has signed up about 2,700 tag users in the 10 weeks or so since they became available.

In about 15 minutes, we were done. Three days later, I got the toll tag. And in about five months, that tag will be taking my money like a taxi meter. Can't wait.
Getting There appears Mondays. For questions, tips or story ideas, contact Getting There at 445-3698 or bwear@statesman.com.


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