Central Texas and Houston drivers could save money thanks to a partnership between the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA). HCTRA will take over all of the billing and customer service operations in an effort to improve invoicing and support.
“HCTRA has successfully performed toll services as its core business for 40 years, and we expect them to deliver reliable, high-quality service for our Central Texas and Houston toll road customers,” said TxDOT executive director Marc Williams in an online statement. “This will bring significant savings and efficiency gain for the state of Texas. Customers could see less fees, and it’ll help keep tolls low going forward.”
To prepare for this transition period, TxTag.org, the electronic toll collection system that operates between Austin and Houston, will go into maintenance mode between November 15 and 18. This means that customers will not be able to login to their accounts, update account information, make payments, or receive customer service related to their accounts.
If you have an outstanding balance, don’t worry—it can be paid on November 18 once the system is back online. Although there will be no late fees, it's recommended to settle outstanding balances sooner rather than later.
Any drivers passing through TxDOT toll roads in Austin or the Houston area on or after November 9 will be billed through HCTRA. Existing TxTag customers can expect to have their accounts transferred to HCTRA.org instead of TxTag.org. For those without a toll tag, TxDOT recommends signing up for a tag to avoid any confusion down the road (pun intended).