BATON ROUGE, La. – Drivers who use the new La. 1 Bridge over Bayou Lafourche can now register for the new GeauxPass at www.geauxpass.com, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced on Thursday.
Tolls on the 4-mile bridge to Grand Isle and Port Fourchon will begin at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Drivers must pre-pay the toll through a GeauxPass account or a one-time pre-purchased pass. By using the Web site, drivers can sign up to receive the GeauxPass transponder, a small electronic device that attaches to the driver’s windshield. Drivers who cross the bridge but do not have a GeauxPass account or a pre-paid one-time pass will have 48 hours to “post-pay” the toll before receiving a violation notice in the mail.
“Our goal is to have as few violations as possible, and using the GeauxPass Web site to sign up is the easiest and most convenient way for most people,” DOTD Secretary William D. Ankner said. “For those without access to a computer, our Customer Service Center in Golden Meadow will be open 24 hours a day, beginning 7 p.m. Sunday evening. We want to make this as easy as possible for everyone to be in compliance.”
Drivers who already have a Crescent City Connection toll tag and account do not need to get a GeauxPass. Their CCC tag will work on the La. 1 Bridge.
At the La. 1 Customer Service Center in Golden Meadow, 1821 La. 3235 (also known as “The Four Lane”), drivers can open accounts, make payments on their accounts and purchase one-time passes.
For the Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo this weekend, the center will open for extended hours:
Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
After 7 p.m. Sunday, the center will be open 24/7 to handle the initial rush of customers signing up for the passes. Drivers also can call the Customer Service Center toll free at 1-866-662-8987 to sign up or to get information.
The La. 1 Bridge is one of the first in the country to use this system, which operates without the need for tollbooths or coin collection units. The transponder is the centerpiece of the toll collection system. Tolls are collected electronically by overhead equipment that “reads” the transponder. Meanwhile, a high-speed camera snaps a picture of each license plate traveling through the gantry, to ensure that the car has registered and pre-paid the toll.