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Committee asks DOTD to study GoPass rollout, tolling practices after Belle Chasse complaints
Summary
Lawmakers voted to report House Resolution 220 favorably, requesting a DOTD review of the GoPass toll system’s rollout, customer service, and tolling practices after repeated delays and local complaints about accessibility and transaction fees on the Belle Chasse bridge project.
The House Transportation Committee on Monday voted to report House Resolution 220 favorably, asking the Department of Transportation and Development to study the GoPass toll system’s functions, accessibility and customer service, and the causes of rollout delays on the Belle Chasse bridge project.
Representative Joseph Breaux, sponsor of the resolution, told the committee the Belle Chasse public‑private partnership toll project experienced about a dozen separate delays before tolls went into effect a few weeks earlier. "The process on rolling out those tolls has been lacking, to say it kindly," Breaux said, citing repeated postponements and inadequate outreach to affected residents.
Breaux and other speakers described several problems: the system’s heavy reliance on the GoPass smartphone app; limited local customer service (the only local office was in Golden Meadow, a roughly two‑hour trip from Belle Chasse); lack of interoperability with other state toll programs such as the Causeway; and the application of per‑trip credit‑card transaction fees rather than applying fees at account reload, which reduces the number of paid trips per load.
Plaquemines Parish President Keith Hinkley, present in support, told the committee, "The GoPass ... it has to be fixed. It is definitely broken right now," and said residents reported being billed for neighbors’ trips and for trips they did not take. Hinkley said the problems are affecting residents’ quality of life and causing high volumes of constituent contacts.
Representative Breaux asked DOTD to collect additional monthly tolling data and other metrics to better understand toll revenue and transaction practices; the resolution requests recommendations for improvements for future projects. Representative Breaux moved that HR 220 be reported favorably; with no objections the committee approved the resolution for favorable reporting.
The committee’s action refers the matter to DOTD for study; it does not change contract terms in the P3 agreement or alter toll rates directly.
