Under the new toll structure, rush-hour drivers using EZ-Pass will be charged 8% more than today's rates, while off-peak drivers with EZ-Pass will suffer no increase in tolls. Drivers who do not have an electronic transponder will be charged a full 20% more after the end of the month. Peak-hour road space will become even more comparatively expensive in 2003 when tolls will increase again by 10% for rush hour EZ-Pass drivers and just 5% for those with EZ-Pass driving off-peak. Cash-payers will be charged 17% more. The Turnpike has designated 7-9am and 4:30 to 6:30 pm as peak morning and evening peak hours respectively.

Truckers on the Turnpike paying cash will see a 13% increase, while those with EZ-Pass will pay 8% more after September 30th. The Turnpike already has a variable toll program in place for truckers that will continue. Since August 1998, the Authority has offered up to a 15% reduction in over-all tolls for high-volume commercial truck customers who travel during off-peak hours.

Variable tolls, "pricing" or "congestion relief pricing," is in place for passenger cars on a portion of State Route 91 in Orange County, California in late 1995 and two bridges in Florida. Rush hour tolls were raised for trucks on the Tappan-Zee Bridge in 1997. But the Turnpike is by far the largest toll entity in this country to make use of the tool. Advocates hope that other regional agencies like the Port Authority and the MTA that have been considering variable tolls follow the bold lead of the Turnpike.

The Garden State Parkway is also expected to have electronic tolls at its southernmost toll plaza at Cape May by the end of the month.