LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More customer service support is coming to RiverLink after the transition to a new tolling system and resuming invoicing led to a “large spike” in customer service needs.

The Joint Board for the Louisville—Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project has approved an order designed to improve customer service for drivers using the tolled bridges, RiverLink said in a news release. That includes adding dozens of additional representatives answering calls and higher pay for local customer service representatives. The hope is to build and retain a customer service team at a new local call center.

“Transitioning to a new tolling system and resuming invoicing has led to a large spike in customer service needs, and we’re working hard to answer that demand,” said Amanda Spencer, assistant state highway engineer with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. “We know this will not be an immediate fix, but it’s a big step in the right direction. We appreciate our customers’ patience during this transition period.

Calls are also being answered by an outside call center temporarily to help with the high volume of calls. Global Agility Solutions is providing up to 50 additional representatives to answer calls and is experienced with tolling needs. The Joint Board will pay up to $2.3 million over nine months for the additional help, which began taking calls late last week.

In addition, the board is bumping up pay to $5 more per hour to retain local customer service representatives. The Joint Board said it was investing more than $1 million to supplement the hourly rates of customer services representatives at the local call center and the local RiverLink Walk-Up Centers.

According to RiverLink, the company has experienced “high customer service needs” following the September transition to a new toll service provider. Customer invoicing was on hold from April 2023 to September 2023 during the transition.

The company said invoicing slowly resumed in late 2023 with first monthly bills for April to September crossings distributed by the end of 2023. Those bills are expected to be up to date by the end of February 2024.

The easiest and most cost-efficient way to cross a tolled bridge is with a prepaid account and transponder, according to RiverLink.