new jersey turnpike authority

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority will be formally seeking bids for toll collection and cash handling services in December to replace some 700 high-cost salaried employees. James Simpson the chairman of the Turnpike Authority and state commissioner of transportation said this after an authority board of directors meeting today.

"It has become a monopoly," he said of toll collection referring to its high costs and labor union dominance.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority board are likely to discuss a proposal for outsourcing manual toll collection services at their next meeting July 27.  A task force established by the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has recommended the contracting-out of cash toll collection as an interim step to cashless all-electronic tolling.

With the New Jersey Turnpike under heavy scrutiny from the new Christie administration the executive director and longtime finance chief Diane Scaccetti is resigning. She told transportation commissioner and Turnpike chairman James Simpson of her plans to leave in a letter dated April 6. The letter has not been released. A spokesman for the commissioner said the matter is being handled by the Governor's office.

Ronald R Gravino former chairman and CEO of the New Jersey Highway Authority looks like getting back in the toll business as a new commissioner of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. He has been nominated by NJ Governor Christie. A finance/turnaround consultant Gravino has since done work for Invidi, a targeted TV marketing startup, and the big pharmaceutical company Squibb.

He is presently chairman of the Newark Liberty Airport board.

New Jersey Turnpike Authority lawyers are seeking costs against the regular anti-road protesters at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC) for a "frivolous" lawsuit against widening the Garden State Parkway. TSTC is suing for an injunction to stop work on the widening project MP30 to MP80, a stretch of 80km (50 miles) on the Jersey shore.