TRENTON-With the government telling New Jersey residents not to host any large gatherings, one large gathering is going on as scheduled, tonight’s hearing to raise tolls for commuters on the New Jersey Turnpike.
The public hearings scheduled for today at 1 pm and 6 pm will go on as scheduled, except the public isn’t allowed to come now.
The proposed hike on the New Jersey Turnpike is roughly 36%. A ride today from exit 1 to 8a would cost you $5.45. If this hike is approved, that same ride would cost you $7.40.
On the Garden State Parkway, tolls will increase from $1.50 to $1.90, a 27% increase.
See the Parkway toll increase schedule here.
Check out the proposed toll schedule here.
Compare with today’s toll rates.
Watch the live stream hearings.
Tolls represent about 92-percent of all Authority revenue. The rest is from the proceeds of contracts with the vendors who operate the service areas and the PNC Arts Center; rents and leases for cell tower sites and fiber optic lines; park and ride receipts; easements and other miscellaneous sources.
When built in the twentieth century, tolls were eventually expected to be removed from the highway once it had been paid for.
“Not so” says the NJTPA.
“The toll roads have never stopped being built. As New Jersey’s economy has flourished and its population grown, the toll roads have always grown to meet the challenge. Those initial construction bonds paid for a Turnpike that was 118 miles long and four lanes wide,” the NJTPA said. “Today, the Turnpike is 148 miles long and as many as 14 lanes wide. Likewise, the Parkway has grown from 164 miles long and four or six lanes wide to 173 miles long and as many as 15 lanes wide. As measured by lane miles, each roadway has more than doubled in size since it was first built. The growth has been financed with toll revenue.”
The proposed adjustment will increase tolls on the Turnpike by 36-percent. The average trip, which now costs $3.50, will cost $4.80. The proposed adjustment will increase tolls on the Parkway by 27-percent. The average trip, which now costs $1.11, will increase by 30 cents. Beginning in 2022, tolls will be indexed at an amount to be determined but in no case more than three percent per year. The proposal also calls for adding a toll at Interchange 19W and making minor adjustments to a toll discount program for buses.
