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Bridge of the Gods Breezeby

Posted: December 18th, 2019, 7:15 am
by bushwhacker
If you are a cheapskate like me and have been using those green coupons for half price passage across the BOTGs that is about to change. Starting 1/6/2020 the Port of Cascade Locks if implementing the same Breezeby transponder model to cross the BOTGs that the Hood River bridge has been using for half price crossing.

The transponder and associated payment account will be good for both Hood River and BOTGs. I did see where Cascade Locks did sneak in a 50 cent increase (round trip). So $2.50 round trip instead of $4 full price.

Dates:
12/20/2019 - End of sales for those coupon books.
1/6/2020 - Start of BOTGs Breezeby (coupon books still usable).
2/3/2020 - Coupon books not excepted any more. You can cash in unused coupons at the Port of Cascade Locks office.

Links:
https://portofcascadelocks.org/document ... eezeBy.pdf
https://portofcascadelocks.org/breezeby/

Re: Bridge of the Gods Breezeby

Posted: December 18th, 2019, 7:51 am
by squidvicious
On first glance I thought you were saying they were raising the regular toll again from $2 to $2.50, and I was preparing to be all outraged.

Thanks for the info. I'm cheapskate enough that I actually just avoid crossing there as much as I can, but this seems like a reasonable compromise. So just a sticker for your windshield that you preload with funds, and I can get it all going online/via mail. I guess I could manage that.

Re: Bridge of the Gods Breezeby

Posted: December 18th, 2019, 9:42 am
by adamschneider
I understand them going to a new system, but that's pretty shitty that they're not going to accept existing coupons.

I'm also a little irked that I can't set up an account with less than $20 in it.

Re: Bridge of the Gods Breezeby

Posted: December 19th, 2019, 9:31 am
by BigBear
Whew...I was thinking about buying a coupon book this past autumn. Glad I procrastinated on that decision. Seems rather fraudulent that they sold the books to unsuspecting customers only to pocket the money by saying they were no longer accepted.

Then again, TriMet did the same thing with their coupons a few years back. Sure, if you came downtown during business hours you could redeem them during a fixed period of time. But if you had a book for weekend excursions and didn't come downtown during the work days, you could't redeem them without the process costing more in vacation time off than the coupons were worth.

Re: Bridge of the Gods Breezeby

Posted: December 19th, 2019, 10:19 am
by Bosterson
BigBear wrote:
December 19th, 2019, 9:31 am
Seems rather fraudulent that they sold the books to unsuspecting customers only to pocket the money by saying they were no longer accepted.
bushwhacker wrote:
December 18th, 2019, 7:15 am
2/3/2020 - Coupon books not excepted any more. You can cash in unused coupons at the Port of Cascade Locks office.

Re: Bridge of the Gods Breezeby

Posted: December 19th, 2019, 10:26 am
by adamschneider
Bosterson wrote:
December 19th, 2019, 10:19 am
bushwhacker wrote:
December 18th, 2019, 7:15 am
2/3/2020 - Coupon books not excepted any more. You can cash in unused coupons at the Port of Cascade Locks office.
The problem is, a lot of non-Gorge-dwellers only visit outside of Normal Business Hours. But, I don't suppose they're going to bend over backwards to accommodate us interlopers.

One small bit of good news: I emailed them and they confirmed that while the coupon books will no longer work after 2/3/20, there's no deadline for cashing them in at a Port office. (The bad news is, you still have to spend $20 to set up a transponder account into which they can deposit the amount from the unused coupons.)

Re: Bridge of the Gods Breezeby

Posted: December 19th, 2019, 12:25 pm
by squidvicious
adamschneider wrote:
December 18th, 2019, 9:42 am
I'm also a little irked that I can't set up an account with less than $20 in it.
Looks like when you go to top it off, it has to be to a minimum of $20 as well.