Back office and customer service to be separate from roadside services

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 16, 2020)The Joint Board for the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project met today and approved four resolutions, including one that allows for future contracts for toll services provider (TSP) services to be separated so that customer service center and back office services are under a different contract than roadside services.

Customer service center and back office services include image review, invoicing and customer service representatives at the call center and local customer service centers.  Roadside services include installing, operating and maintaining the roadside equipment that is used to capture crossings on tolled bridges and determine vehicle classification (number of axles and vehicle height).

The separation of the services is a practice being used by more tolling systems. It offers increased competition, opens the process to more potential providers and results in greater checks and balances between the two. The separation allows each provider to focus on the services it does best and is expected to provide more flexibility for the tolling system.

The resolution authorized the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) to move forward with procurements for customer service center and back office services (TSP2 Services). TSP2 Services should be ready for implementation no later than Dec. 31, 2023, the expiration date for the contract with the current TSP, Kapsch TrafficCom.

Additional Resolutions

Three additional resolutions were passed by the Joint Board. One allows the IFA to engage a legal advisor to work on the procurement of TSP2 Services. Dentons Bingham Greenebaum will serve as legal advisor to the Joint Board for the purposes of working on the procurement of TSP2 Services.

Another resolution confirmed and ratified the selection of Strothman and Company as Revenue Control Manager (RCM). The RCM reconciles financial information, prepares financial reports and participates in any applicable audits. KPMG previously served as RCM. That contract will expire at the end of September. Strothman and Company will begin serving July 1.

The other resolution approved and adopted amended bylaws of the Joint Board regarding what constitutes a quorum. Previously, no fewer than three members constituted a quorum for any business at a meeting of the Joint Board. The amended bylaw reads that no fewer than four members shall be necessary to constitute a quorum.

Joint Board

 The Joint Board includes transportation and finance leaders from Indiana and Kentucky. It’s made up of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) commissioner, the Indiana public finance director, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet secretary and the Kentucky Public Transportation Infrastructure Authority (KPTIA) chairman, or their designees.

The Joint Board was created to have long-term oversight and management responsibility for the Ohio Rivers Bridges Project. Bi-state tolling representatives handle the day-to-day administration of the tolling system.

Note: Resolutions and supporting documents from the meeting are posted at RiverLink.com: https://riverlink.com/about/joint-board/.