The calendar has turned from 2024 to 2025. We wish you all the best in the New Year, especially all of New Jersey’s motorists and commuters who utilize public transportation. We really do…but we want more of your hard earned money, and we want it now!!! Or at least by the end of this weekend.
The reason for the increased costs? Needed infrastructure project improvements.
Here’s a list of what you’ll be paying more for in 2025, if you didn’t already know:
- Tolls on the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike and at Hudson River crossings. The average commuter will now pay 16 cents more for Turnpike tolls, 8 cents more at Parkway toll plazas, and 3 cents more at Parkway exit and entrance ramps.
- Tolls at the Bayonne Bridge, Goethals Bridge, and Outerbridge Crossing also increasing.
- Beginning January 5, motorists heading into Manhattan south of 60th Street will be hit with a new, $9 congestion fee.
- Beginning January 12, a 25 cent PATH fare hike to $3.
- Likely starting in July, a 3% NJ Transit fare increases.
- The average motorist using E-ZPass now pays a $15.38 toll during peak hours. That toll will be $16.06 starting January 5.
- The ever popular (sarcasm intended) Congestion Toll Pricing for motorists driving into Manhattan south of 60th Street. ADD $9. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates NYC’s subway and bus systems, needs MONEY. Your NJ-Earned Money.
- What’s the change under the current plan? Tolls for motorists using E-ZPass during peak hours will be $9 once daily for cars, $4.50 for motorcycles, $14.40 for small trucks and non-commuter buses, and $21.40 for large trucks and sightseeing buses. Taxis riders will be charged a 75-cent fee. If you use a ride-share app, you will pay an extra $1.50 charge. Tolls will be highest from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. If it’s not during those peak hours, the toll will be 75% cheaper.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and other elected New Jersey officials are opposed to congestion pricing. A federal judge is still considering a Murphy administration lawsuit intended to stop the plan. That decision will directly impact thousands of New Jersey residents.
In the meantime, people, just stay home if you can!!! (more sarcasm intended).