E-ZPass users who drive the Garden State Parkway will get a break starting today when tolls at barrier plazas during the peak travel hours drop to 33 cents and to 30 cents outside the rush period. Drivers who pay with cash and tokens continue to be charged 35 cents. Ramp tolls remain 25 cents for all drivers. The new policy provides an incentive for drivers to travel during less congested hours and to sign up for E-ZPass, a point that will be underscored when token sales end on January 1st. The Parkway is the third toll facility in the region to vary tolls by time of day.

Many question whether the E-ZPass and off-peak discounts are large enough to affect behavior. The maximum savings for a person driving the length of the 173-mile Parkway is just 85 cents. Also, because the price variation is created through a discount, rather than a toll increase, the change will cost the Parkway up to $13 million per year. 

- NJ Considers Toll Barrier Removal - 

Senator Joseph Palaia (R-Monmouth) introduced a bill last week that would implement much of the NJ DOT plan for removing barrier tolls from the Parkway (MTR #329). To what extent the bill will hew to the four-phase plan remains a topic of great debate.

Initial drafts of the bill appropriate $36 million from the Transportation Trust Fund to begin removal of toll plazas and installation of one-way, high-speed E-ZPass collection, a step hailed by transportation reform activists and editorial boards (MTR #330). However, other sections strip the NJ Highway Authority of its powers to issue bonds and set 2012 as the end date for toll collection. The bill appropriates $36 million from the General Fund as well as an additional $195 million from the Trust Fund to pay for Parkway capital projects. This amount represents almost 20% of all state capital funds available to NJ DOT and NJTransit in a year.

Under mounting criticism over these measures, the bill was pulled from a scheduled committee hearing today and is being redrafted. With only a handful of sessions left for both houses before Democrats take control of the State House and the Assembly, pressure is high to move the bill quickly to a floor vote. A jumpstart for high-speed toll collection would solidify Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco's legacy as a leader who took fiscally responsible steps to remove traffic congestion from the Parkway.

Parkway Moves Closer to Variable Tolls (Oct., 2001)

Garden State Parkway Backs Variable Tolls (Aug., 2001)

High Praise for Variable Tolls at E-ZParty (Oct., 2000)

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