New Jersey bill would halt automatic Turnpike Authority toll increases

A bipartisan effort at the New Jersey statehouse would slam the brakes on automatic Turnpike Authority toll increases for all users.

Toll rates on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway were increased in September 2020. At that time, tolls increased by 36% on the Turnpike and by 27% on the Parkway. Tolls on the Atlantic City Expressway were raised 37%.

The increases were included as part of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s 10-year, $24 billion capital plan. The Expressway has a similar $500 million plan.

Another round of toll increases

The Turnpike Authority operates the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.

Authority officials announced last week another 3% toll increase on the Turnpike and Parkway to take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

The latest increase is included in the $2.29 billion budget for 2022 approved by Turnpike commissioners.

Bipartisan effort to reverse tolling trend

The rub for critics in the statehouse is the single line in the budget that reads “annual toll rate indexing at 3% effective Jan. 1.”

Turnpike Authority officials say the toll indexing is necessary to provide a stable funding source for capital needs.

Sen. Jim Holzapfel, R-Ocean, said the announcement of the rate increase has “blindsided” toll users.

“There was no discussion about it, no public hearings, no transparency,” Holzapfel said in a news release. “This is a tax on driving, and it is a disgrace that in a state with some of the highest taxes in the nation, the bureaucrats at the Turnpike Authority would stoop so low to sneak verbiage in a contract that provides for annual and automatic increases.”

I think everybody who commutes on the Turnpike or Garden State Parkway was blindsided by the announcement that tolls would increase for the second time in a little over a year. There was no discussion about it, no public hearings, no transparency. https://t.co/gPOYElkztG

— Sen. Jim Holzapfel (@jimholzapfel) December 14, 2021

Holzapfel and Sen. Nia Gill, D-Essex, have introduced legislation to prohibit the Turnpike Authority from implementing automatic toll increases.

The bill, S4276, would reduce all Turnpike Authority toll rates by 50 cents from the toll rate that took effect in September 2020.

Additionally, the upcoming toll rate increase on the Turnpike and Parkway would be stopped. Specifically, the bill would prohibit automatic toll increases and freeze toll rates through 2024.

The Atlantic City Expressway would not be affected by the legislation.

S4276 has been sent to the Senate Transportation Committee. An Assembly version of the bill is expected to be introduced next week by Republican Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and John Catalano.

Passage must quickly follow. The two-year legislative session wraps up Jan. 10. LL

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