Have You Transferred Your TxTag Account Yet?
If you’re not familiar with TxTag, it’s operated by TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) and is one of the toll road tags that you can purchase to put on your windshield to pay lower toll fees in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Back in September of 2024, I received an email from TxTag with the subject line “Important Customer Updates.” Similar subject lines are often used when announcing privacy policy notices or website closure for maintenance, so I didn’t pay much attention to it until the weekend.
The big announcement was that TxTag toll collections would transition to HCTRA (Harris County Toll Road Authority) later in the fall, so it was important to check the accuracy of profile information in the TxTag account by October 15.
In November, I received another email stating that the transfer process was starting and accounts would be blacked out until December 1. Vague instructions were given about how to create a new account at HCTRA’s website.
I only utilize the toll tag when I drive to Austin or (rarely) Houston, so this wasn’t a high priority for me until last week. I consider myself quite website savvy (even on extremely antiquated or clunky ones), but I could not figure out how to transfer my account over. I didn’t want to lose any more time than I already had, so I took a few screen shots and submitted a help request to customer service.
Fortunately, they answered within a few days. They must have a template ready to go because they shared the step-by-step process for the transfer.
To save you time if you need to do the same thing, here are those steps:
“Dear Helene Segura,
Your TxTag account number XXXXXXXXXX and balance of $XX.XX was transitioned to HCTRA, you will be able to continue using your existing TxTag to pay tolls on all toll roads in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
You are able to set up your online account using the “Phone Number” or “Email Address” associated to the account, at www.hctra.org. To set up your account please follow the steps below:
- Select “Login” at the top right corner and click on ‘First Time Log In’ hyperlink.
- Enter the information into the required fields and follow prompts.
If you have additional questions, you may contact us at the phone number listed above Monday-Friday 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. or visit one of our EZ TAG store locations. Locations are listed online at www.hctra.org under the ‘Help & Support’ tab which is located at the bottom of our homepage.”
You’ll want to have your TxTag account number handy. Note that this is different from your tag number! I followed the above steps and was set up in only a few minutes.
If you use your TxTag often and are not set up on auto-reload, you’ll want to log in while you’re not in a hurry instead of trying to contact customer service when you have an issue. You might not be able to reach a human for several days.
If you utilize the auto-reload option, you’ll still want to eventually set up your new account at HCTRA so you can handle any billing discrepancies, get copies of charges for tax purposes and/or update your payment method.
For tips on how road warriors can operate more efficiently, check out The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer.
