Tolling Times For NJ Drivers

Once again, New Jersey drivers are going to be treated as piggy banks for the state. New Jersey offiicals are floating the idea of raising tolls on the NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway next year by a considerable amount (50%) and then again in 2012, and then again several years following that.

I've seen several versions, but The Star Ledger reports:

The plan was sent to Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday and is expected to be introduced at a public meeting next week. If enacted, it would mean the cost of a typical 23-mile trip on the Turnpike would jump from $1.20 to $1.80 next year. It would rise to $2.70 in 2012 and reach $3 after 2023.

Tolls on the Garden State Parkway would rise at a similar pace. The current average of 35 cents per passenger car would rise to 50 cents next year, 75 cents in 2012 and reach 85 cents in 2023.

The hikes would be the first since 2000 and would be used to widen the Turnpike and Parkway, invest $1.25 billion in a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and repair and replace decrepit bridges.

The Turnpike Authority can implement the toll hikes without any action by the Legislature, although Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said lawmakers might hold hearings on the proposal.

The money is supposed to go to widen the turnpike and Parkway, but drivers might have a hard time stomaching the idea of funding mass transit to the tune of $1.25 billion, even though that would help take additional drivers off the roads.

My concern is that the state has mismanaged its transportation infrastructure for decades. They've plowed money into white elephants like the Secaucus Junction (boondoggle). The Northeast Corridor suffers because of Amtrak neglect and mismanagement of federal assets as well, and the new rail tunnel will improve reliability along the entire system by eliminating a critical bottleneck into Manhattan. It also provides redundancy in case of problems with one track.

Still, New Jersey drivers have to wonder where all the billions of dollars spent by the Turnpike and GSP authorities have gone over the years when they see roads in such poor condition year after year.

They can look north and see that the NYS Thruway Authority, which manages a system far larger than the NJ Turnpike, has generally been able to maintain its roads at a high level.

While I expect NJ drivers to complain and politicians are themselves seething over the idea of running for reelection with the toll hike as a looming issue, I don't think the hikes are going to go away or that it will end up changing the outcome in November. There are simply too many entrenched interests and people will continue putting up with the nonsense in Trenton the way they always have.