E-Z Pass users now make up on average 20-25% of toll payers at these locations. Officials expect that at least half of all drivers will take advantage of E-ZPass' time saving benefits (though agencies operating in NYC have far surpassed that rate). This bodes well for the eventual introduction of the non-stop toll facilities called for in the "Parkway Barrier Toll Removal Act," a bill that the NJ Senate needs to resuscitate. The bill would require replacement of traditional toll plazas with roadside or gantry readers that collect tolls electronically while cars zip past at highway speeds. The provision would take effect at a given plaza once E-Z Pass share reaches two-thirds. The companion bill passed the Assembly Transportation Committee early this year.

Also this week, Parkway head Joseph Buckelew announced that the Parkway will study the possibility of offering the 1.7-cent break given to drivers who buy tokens to those using E-Z Pass. Though a modest reduction, the discount provides yet another incentive and is a welcome change after offering a disincentive to E-Z Pass users on the Paramus and Clifton ramps for the last six weeks. The Parkway is finally allowing the E-ZPass lanes to remain open during rush hour after weeks of forcing new E-ZPass owners to wait in lines with cash-payers. The report should also consider the impacts of implementing the time-variable toll rate policy embraced by the NJ Turnpike, which would add more congestion-busting potential to .

While Parkway E-ZPass installation continues apace, the Turnpike is about 6 weeks behind on a schedule that aimed to throw the switch on the system up and down the highway by May 22. In response to news that the parent of MFS Network Technologies - NJ's E-Z Pass installation contractor - is in financial straits, Gov. Whitman recently asked Transportation Commissioner James Weinstein and NJ Turnpike head Ed Gross to devise a plan that would ensure on-time completion even if the sinking company can't finish the job