Peach Passes — those new electronic car devices that will eventually let drivers take new fast lanes on I-85 — have been rolling out, but some customers are having a more-than-tough time getting a hold of one.
After fielding concerns from people who were confused by the effect of the new Peach Pass, the Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority is now dealing with an influx of customers who want the new pass — tying up phone lines.
The Peach Pass, introduced along with the I-85 high occupancy toll lane construction, will give commuters the option of using express lanes to avoid delays on I-85’s regular lanes. It also will replace the existing Cruise Cards for those who opt to make the switch (either way, all accounts are called Peach Pass now), giving those drivers fast access through the Ga. 400 toll plaza as well.
Drivers must have a Peach Pass or an updated Cruise Card to use I-85’s express lanes, which are expected to open later this summer.
Jeff Finkelstein, 54, a software consultant who commutes to downtown Atlanta from north of the Perimeter, said he’s been waiting for weeks since ordering a new pass.
“I’ve been using the old pass ever since it came out. I was one of the first folks with it. It worked well,” he said. “I recently purchased a new vehicle and contacted them. They said I should get the old one, send it in and they’ll strike it off the records and send a new one. That was two months ago.”
And situations such as Finkelstein’s lead to more phone calls for SRTA.
SRTA spokeswoman Malika Reed Wilkins confirmed that the agency was experiencing unusually high call volume. She said that once marketing efforts for the Peach Pass kicked off, the call center’s incoming calls jumped from about 350 a day to about 950.
“There are possibly some wait times involved,” she said. “We are getting more questions about it because it is new. That’ll make the calls longer than normal. We ask people to just bear with us, and we’ll definitely work through them.”
Some callers, like Finkelstein, have reported instances of poor customer service.
“They weren’t quite as friendly that go-around,” Finkelstein said, after calling SRTA a third time to get a pass. Coincidentally, just a few minutes after talking to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his issue, he got an email confirmation that his pass would be issued to him within seven to 14 business days.
Perhaps SRTA has been too successful at getting people interested in the Peach Pass. The agency has budgeted $4.2 million to market it and has spent $2.5 million of that as of June 21, Wilkins said. That money goes toward billboards, meetings, social events, newspaper ads and a slew of other efforts to get people buying passes.
As of Friday, SRTA reported handing out 4,055 new accounts with Peach Pass. That doesn’t include existing Cruise Card users who have been upgraded.
“So that’s about a little over 9,000 passes issued,” Wilkins said. “Some people have more than one car under one account. The word is definitely getting out.”
So what does this mean for commuters who just want a pass? They can expect longer waits on the phone, but SRTA is encouraging people to instead sign up for a Peach Pass on its website: www.peachpass.com.
Wilkins said the call center is still getting calls from confused customers. She said people calling about the status of their Peach Pass order was one of the top five topics for callers.
Mark Bessey, 57, a consultant who lives in east Cobb County and commutes to northern Atlanta, chose to not call in and had a much smoother process with the online sign-up. He heard about the pass on the radio and got it in three business days.
“I didn’t have to talk to anybody,” he said. “Whenever I have to just deal with computers, things go really well.”
---------------------
SRTA is encouraging people to instead sign up for a Peach Pass on its website: www.peach pass.com .
About the Author
