Tolls up 50% on Atlantic City Expressway Tuesday am

Toll rates are due to be increased 50% on the Atlantic City Expressway just after midnight Monday Nov 17 to come into effect Tuesday Nov 18 at 00:01, toller South Jersey Transportation Authority says.

At the Egg Harbor toll plaza the cash rate for cars goes from $2.00 to $3.00 with the same rate for regional E-ZPass transponders. Enrollees in the SJTA frequent user program will get by at a cost of $1.92 on their transponder account per pass vs $1.29 before the increase.

Commercial vehicles presently pay $1.50/axle but will pay $2.25/axle from Tuesday, so a tractor-trailer will pay $11.25 vs $7.50 now. Commercial vehicles with a  transponder get a frequent user discount of 10%.

The other mainline plaza in Pleasantville with a cash toll now of 50c goes to 75c for cars paying cash. The frequent user transpondered motorist charge will go from 34c to 51c. Commercial rates go up by the same percentage.

Most of the ramps presently 50c go to 75c.

Only exception to the 50% raises comes with a transitional "tourism discount rate" for transponder users which is 25% off. The Tourism discount is described as a temporary discount 5pm to 7pm Friday and Saturday evenings Oct 15 through May 18 in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. It will expire May 18 2010 unless renewed by the SJTA board.

Toll revenue in 2007 on the Expressway was $87.4m from 183k transactions/day average. If the toll increases reduce traffic 10% revenue will be at around $120m to $125m on a full year basis following the rise in toll rates.

Major capital project to be supported with the higher revenue is third laning a long stretch of the expressway westbound. Eastbound has long been 3-lanes. Also an important interchange will be rebuilt to service all movements.

The New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway tolls are going up by a similar percentage soon.  The toll increases were worked out in the state treasury department, but the two toll boards have gone along with them without dissent.

TOLLROADSnews 2008-11-16