Parkway, turnpike operators lessening toll hikes' impact
By THOMAS BARLAS
Staff Writer, 609-272-7201
Published: Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike operators are reducing their toll-hike proposals for the roadways.The New Jersey Turnpike Authority also will slash billions of dollars from its operating and capital budgets, with some of the savings coming from layoffs, eliminating 150 "personally assigned vehicles" and setting a new priority for some proposed transportation projects.Widening the parkway between mileposts 80 and 63 in Ocean County remains a priority.The proposals were contained in a letter sent Tuesday to Gov. Jon S. Corzine by Turnpike Authority Chairman Kris Kolluri. Corzine recently ordered the Turnpike Authority to scale down its plan to raise $11 billion in revenue by raising turnpike and parkway tolls three times over the next 13 years. The new proposal contains only two toll hikes on the roadways. On the parkway, 35-cent tolls would increase 15 cents next year and another 25 cents by 2012. The cost of an average turnpike trip would increase 50 cents next year instead of 60 cents, and another 90 cents by 2012. Toll hikes planned by 2023 are eliminated.
The proposal also contains some new discounts:Drivers age 65 and older will get an additional 10 percent discount when using E-ZPass during off-peak hours.Truck drivers will get a 5 percent E-ZPass discount during off-peak hours.Drivers of low-emission vehicles that get at least 45 miles per gallon will get an additional 10 percent, off-peak Green Pass discount.The Turnpike Authority will hold a public hearing on the new proposals beginning at 9 a.m. Friday at its headquarters in Woodbridge.Along with proposed parkway and turnpike toll hikes, the South Jersey Transportation Authority wants to raise fares on the Atlantic City Expressway. No information was available Tuesday regarding whether the SJTA will proceed.Corzine must approve all toll-hike plans.The Corzine administration shelved a more sweeping toll hike plan that would have raised tolls 800 percent to fund transportation improvements and pay down half the state's crushing debt. The governor was forced to abandon that proposal after it failed to gain public or legislative support.The SJTA and Turnpike Authority each held three public hearings on the proposed toll hikes. While the SJTA's public hearings drew just a handful of people, more than 100 people attended the Turnpike Authority's first public hearing last week at Camden County College.Some speakers said motorists cannot afford to pay any more and demanded state officials streamline their costs instead. Labor groups supported the proposal, claiming it would create much-needed jobs for their members.Corzine eventually ordered the Turnpike Authority to re-examine its proposal.The new proposal also includes a $13.8 billion cut in the Turnpike Authority's operating budget. Those cuts will be made by immediately eliminating 30 positions, eliminating 50 positions during each of the next four years through attrition, instituting a four-year hiring and promotional freeze, reducing overtime by 10 percent in each of the next four years and eliminating the 150 "personally assigned vehicles."The toll hikes will now fund a $7 billion capital plan instead of a $9.7 capital plan. A $1.25 billion contribution toward construction of a new mass transit tunnel between New Jersey and New York remains in place.The proposal also sets up a priority list of construction programs. The widening of the turnpike between interchanges 6 and 9 and the widening of the parkway between interchanges 63 and 80 are among the projects that would be funded immediately after the increases are approved.The Associated Press contributed to this report.E-mail Thomas Barlas:TBarlas@pressofac.com
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