CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill that would force the state Parkways Authority to have credit and debit card options available at the Turnpike’s toll plazas in the coming years could be headed to a conference committee.
The House of Delegates and state Senate have disagreed on portions of House Bill 4083 as recent as Wednesday when the Senate refused to concur with changes made a second time by the House.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed the bill that included with amendments to the year the parkways must get the system up and running from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2023.
Parkways Authority General Manager Greg Barr has previously told the House Technology and Infrastructure Committee that officials are currently six months into a three-year process to change its entire tolling system and there are plans to integrate credit and debit options as part of the change.
Barr told MetroNews that a bill would be signed, he would expect the project to finish well before the current 2023 deadline.
“I think when we bid out the project for the toll system upgrade, we’ll accentuate the need to get this credit card and the Comenity bank payment system up and running as soon as possible rather than let it drag on until the very end.”
Barr also told MetroNews he has been concerned that rushing the process, which he said could be the case in 2021 deadline, would create delays at the toll plazas because more time is needed to get the right system in place.
Delays turn into safety issues, Barr noted. He said the average cash transaction takes 12 seconds and the Parkways Authority wants to mirror that with credit and debit cards.
“It’s a very critical thing that when we do this credit card system, we have to do it right. By that I mean, we have to be able to process fast. As least as fast as cash,” Barr said.
Barr said another subject of the bill that has brought much debate is around fees and the credit card industry rules and regulations around them. There had been text in the bill for certain surcharges when using cards.
“For instance, you can’t add a surcharge for a debit card, only credit cards,” Barr told MetroNews. “If you do a surcharge, you can’t recover all your costs. You can’t surcharge for equipment costs, running a communication line. You can only surcharge for interchange fees.”
The Parkways Authority is planning on absorbing any interchange fees, Barr said. He also expressed the need to steer away from the credit card usage fee increase. The bill text has been permissive in saying the parkways “may increase” and not required.
“We don’t charge people extra when they use their credit cards to pay for EZ-Pass so we don’t think we are going to charge people extra for using the credit card either,” Barr said.