Big Changes for Toll Roads in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

June 8, 2020 • 0 Comments • Congestion Pricing, E-ZPass, Gas Tax, HIGH OCCUPANCY, Infrastructure, infrastructure funding, Mass Transit, NMA, REVENUE GENERATION, ROAD-USER FEES, Toll Roads, TOLLING, tolls

By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director

Despite NMA and public opposition plus general condemnation for holding hearings during a pandemic, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority voted unanimously on May 27 to increase tolls on two of the state’s largest toll roads. The increase takes effect on September 13, 2020, and would increase the average Turnpike toll for passenger vehicles to $1.30, and the Garden State Parkway toll increase would rise 40 cents from $1.50 to $1.90.

The additional money will be used to pay for a $24 billion capital plan that includes widening sections of both the Turnpike and Parkway and replacing a bridge between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The toll increases would also allow the Authority to implement cashless tolling permanently.

Speaking of cashless tolling, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced in early June that it would implement cashless tolling almost immediately and lay off about 500 toll workers (roughly half the commission’s total workforce) in the process. Initially, the plan was to switch to cashless tolling late 2021, but since March, due to the COVID-19 crisis, the commission stopped accepting cash—which was hailed as a temporary measure.

Cash tolls won’t come back at all, and instead, tolls will be assessed electronically either by E-ZPass or Toll by Plate. In mid-May, the commission announced turnpike traffic dropped 50 percent (20 million fewer vehicles) since March. Toll revenue went down nearly $150 million in the same period.

Ironically, the commission announced two weeks before that nearly 1,400 union Turnpike workers would receive a raise. The agreement also established a severance package for toll collectors who may lose their jobs when the Turnpike goes cashless in the fall of 2021. Unclear whether this agreement signed before will still apply for the new arrangement.

In Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PennDOT officials have been discussing congestion pricing as a potential funding mechanism. Acting PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian said that the department was ‘intrigued by the potential for congestion pricing,’ even before the COVID-19 Crisis.

This is the issue: PennDot receives $400 million in annual fund transfers from the Turnpike Commission to support mass transit. Due to the economic slump, unclear whether the Turnpike can afford to send this cash PennDOTs way. In the meantime, PennDot is looking at its budget hole of $900 million due to less gas tax funding. In a 2019 Report, a congestion pricing plan could likely bring in upwards of $200 million for the state.

Fun times ahead for both states and her drivers.

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