The Penalty For Living and Working in New Jersey: A Toll Increase Every Year

As we celebrate the holiday season, get ready to turn your smile upside down.  Effective January 1, tolls will once again be increasing on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway…and the Atlantic City Expressway…according to the NJ Turnpike Authority.

The increase will be 3 percent.  This comes approximately 16 months after tolls went up in 2020.  The increase is contained in the 2022, $2.289 billion budget for the Turnpike Authority.

The added revenues will go toward capital projects.  According to a report by NJ Advance Media, “Tolls last increased on Sept. 13, 2020, by 36% on the Turnpike, 27% on the Parkway and 37% on the Atlantic City Expressway, to fund a 10-year, $24 billion capital plan on the Parkway and Turnpike and a similar $500 million plan for the Expressway.”

So, what does it mean in terms of dollars and cents?  Well, on the Garden State Parkway for E-Z Pass customers in passenger vehicles, the cost will increase from $1.90 to $1.96 on Jan. 1, but since cash tolls are rounded to the nickel instead of the penny, the cash toll at a Parkway barrier plaza will be $2.

On the New Jersey Turnpike, the average passenger vehicle toll which currently costs $4.80 will rise to $4.95 under the increase.  Tolls will comprise 90% of the Turnpike Authority’s revenue in the 2022 budget.

Bottom line, if you don’t use EZ Pass, make sure you have extra bills and change in your car when riding the Garden State’s toll roads.  And if you do have EZ Pass, add a little extra into your account.

Safe travels people.