A consensus among NJ editorial boards emerged last week in response to Governor DiFrancesco's plan to remove Garden State Parkway barrier toll plazas. 

DiFrancesco's near-term steps - high-speed E-ZPass facilities and congestion pricing - are needed and should be pursued promptly. The plan's long-term goal of eliminating Parkway tolls by 2012 is an unrealistic non-starter that would stretch already tight transportation budgets. 

On high-speed toll collection, E-ZPass discounts and congestion pricing:

· "would be a smart step." (Trenton Times)

· are "practical ways to reduce the madness" and "one wonders why the geniuses at the parkway authority did not do this years ago." (Bergen Record)

· "Such improvements could achieve an appropriate balance between easing traffic backups and maintaining a necessary revenue stream." (Courier News)

· "solid, overdue ideas for reducing congestion and improving safety on the parkway." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

· "excellent proposals..." (Press of Atlantic City)

On removing all tolls:

· "Given our state's massive transportation deficiencies, reducing the resources available to deal with them makes no sense at all." (Trenton Times)

· [the notion that] "future legislators and governors will cough up more than $200 million a year in cash to remove tolls" is "not realistic" and a "fantasy." (Star Ledger)

· "Expense alone is a good reason for going slow on any elimination of parkway tolls." (Bergen Record)

· "an unfortunate and potentially dangerous recipe for shortcuts on road improvements and other maintenance projects along the highway." (Courier News)

· "... it's fiscally reckless to toss out the tolls with the tollbooths." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

· "...there is little reason to shift the financial burden from parkway users...to state taxpayers." (Press of Atlantic City)

The pressure will be on for NJ's next governor to take quick steps to reduce Parkway congestion. The response to DiFrancesco's plan charts an obvious path.

DiFrancesco Backs High-Speed Tolls, For Now,  Would Eliminate Tolls on Garden State by 2012 - August 13, 2001

Environmental, Transportation Groups Call for NJ High-Speed E-ZPass Lanes  Now - August 6, 2001 

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