More than half the trucks on the New Jersey Turnpike will use the new E-Zpass automated toll system when it goes online in August. That’s the word from Turnpike Authority’s executive director, Ed Gross, who has overseen the much-delayed E-Zpass installation.
"It will transform the road," Gross told The Record of Hackensack. "When people think of the Turnpike and having to pay their tolls at 8 a.m., they expect to be delayed, and that expectation will disappear."
New Jersey Motor Truck Assn. President Sam Cunninghame agrees that many truckers will adopt E-Zpass. At least a "significant number" of his members will, and for good reason.
According to Cunninghame, fleets that currently have charge accounts with the Turnpike will be given E-Zpass with no change in the way their accounts work. In other words, said Cunninghame, they will have 30 days to pay their tolls. All other E-ZPass customers have to put up money first, establishing prepaid accounts from which tolls are deducted. Unfortunately, he said, the special deal is a “grandfather” arrangement for current Turnpike account holders only.
Turnpike E-ZPass, already years behind schedule on the Turnpike, was expected to go live in May. That date was recently pushed back to August. Meanwhile, new E-ZPass installations on the Garden State Parkway, another New Jersey toll road, have been malfunctioning recently, failing to properly read transponders.
According to Cunninghame, the debut of E-ZPass on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be delayed until weigh-in-motion equipment can be installed. The Pennsylvania Turnpike, Cunninghame explained, intends to use actual truck weight, not just the number of axles, to decide tolls.
"It will transform the road," Gross told The Record of Hackensack. "When people think of the Turnpike and having to pay their tolls at 8 a.m., they expect to be delayed, and that expectation will disappear."
New Jersey Motor Truck Assn. President Sam Cunninghame agrees that many truckers will adopt E-Zpass. At least a "significant number" of his members will, and for good reason.
According to Cunninghame, fleets that currently have charge accounts with the Turnpike will be given E-Zpass with no change in the way their accounts work. In other words, said Cunninghame, they will have 30 days to pay their tolls. All other E-ZPass customers have to put up money first, establishing prepaid accounts from which tolls are deducted. Unfortunately, he said, the special deal is a “grandfather” arrangement for current Turnpike account holders only.
Turnpike E-ZPass, already years behind schedule on the Turnpike, was expected to go live in May. That date was recently pushed back to August. Meanwhile, new E-ZPass installations on the Garden State Parkway, another New Jersey toll road, have been malfunctioning recently, failing to properly read transponders.
According to Cunninghame, the debut of E-ZPass on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be delayed until weigh-in-motion equipment can be installed. The Pennsylvania Turnpike, Cunninghame explained, intends to use actual truck weight, not just the number of axles, to decide tolls.
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