Port Authority Bridges Three out of eight toll lanes on the PA’s NJ-Staten Island Outerbridge Crossing permit 25 mph speeds for E-ZPass drivers. The Port Authority estimates these lanes process 200 more cars per hour than E-ZPass lanes fitted into old-style tollbooths. The improvements are expected to further hike the E-ZPass market share at the bridge, which is now 72%, and up almost 3% from a year ago. The Port Authority hopes to install 45 mph lanes at the Outerbridge by 2005.

The Goethals Bridge also features 25 mph roll-through speed lanes, and a highway-speed facility (45 mph and up) will be installed over the next two years. The Bayonne Bridge is slated for highway-speed tolls by 2007.

The PA is progressively increasing E-ZPass lane speeds at the George Washington Bridge. Last year, roll-through speeds were raised from 5 to 15 mph, and by 2007 both the upper and lower levels are expected to have 45 mph high-speed collection lanes. Non-stop tolls will open later in 2004 at the entrance unto the bridge from the Palisades Interstate Parkway.

New Jersey Toll Roads The NJ Turnpike Authority, which now runs both the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, is implementing non-stop tolling on both roads. Governor McGreevey has committed to providing high-speed lanes at nine Parkway and Turnpike toll plazas by 2005, and has made significant progress. In January, non-stop facilities opened at the Parkway’s Pascack Valley plaza at the Parkway’s northern end. Already, 93% of E-ZPass-equipped drivers use these lanes. The Toms River, Raritan South and Asbury Park interchanges are slated to open non-stop facilities in summer 2005.

The New Jersey Turnpike opened high-speed lanes at Exit 6 in 2001 and at 18W this past January. Meanwhile, dedicated non-stop lanes are slated for Exit 1 by the summer of 2004 and at Interchange 16/18E by the summer of 2005. The Turnpike Authority estimates the non-stop lanes process 800 more cars per hour than traditional E-ZPass lanes.

NJ transportation commissioner Jack Lettiere noted in an op-ed piece in Friday’s Home News Tribune that the NJ agencies brought their high-speed lanes on-line from scratch in just 15 months.

Meanwhile, non-stop tolls will debut on the Atlantic City Expressway this spring. An express lane – permitting speeds up to 55 mph – will run in both directions at the Pleasantville toll plaza, near Atlantic City.

NY State Thruway The Thruway’s Tappan Zee Bridge toll plaza features two lanes that allow cars to roll through at 20 mph. The lanes opened in December of 2003 (replacing three standard booth lanes), and the Thruway estimates they process 500 more cars per hour than traditional E-ZPass lanes. Eventually, a replaced or rebuilt Tappan Zee is expected to feature high-speed lanes.

In a five-year capital program the Thruway anticipates releasing and beginning next year, it will seek to develop open-road toll lanes at many of its barrier plazas, including those at New Rochelle, Spring Valley, and several upstate sites.

Express E-ZPass traffic is separated from vehicles paying cash well before the toll barrier at NJ Turnpike Exit 18W, reducing weaving and jockeying, promoting safety.

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