Tollway authority renews call center contract

Illinois tollway officials awarded the company that runs its call center a one-year, $15 million contract Thursday despite its connection to snafus over late violation notices.

The contract renewal means Pennsylvania-based TransCore will continue to manage calls about I-PASS accounts and fines, violation processing, license plate reviews and transponder orders.

Previously TransCore handled the toll violation enforcement system but the agency switched contractors in 2006.

The transition wasn't smooth and for 13 months notices weren't sent because of miscommunication. As a result, thousands of drivers received unexpected late fees.

The tollway has caught up with the backlog, Chief of Business Systems Stan Ryniewski said.

"This is the first year we feel we're in a normal operating environment," he said.

TransCore's original three-year contract was for $29 million but the tollway board increased the amount by $16.7 million last January partly because of the backlog and also to handle the sheer numbers of I-PASS inquiries.

More than 14 million minutes were spent answering calls in 2008, and the 2009 total as of Nov. 30 was 12.7 million minutes.

A separate board committee is also reviewing the tollway's violation policies and contracts.

The call center is located in Lisle. Officials said renewing the contract for another year ensured customer service wouldn't be interrupted by introducing a new company.

"It's expensive to replace vendors," tollway Acting Executive Director Michael King said. "We need to do it in a measured fashion."

Tollway officials previously had talked about moving the call center in-house. However, that would involve hiring additional staff.