Garden State Parkway: Eliminating Exact Change Lanes from the Toll Plazas

Photo: NJ.com

Patch- The Garden State Parkway has made a big change that could impact your commute by the end of the September. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority says it's getting rid of exact change lanes at its highway toll plazas, except for those on entrance and exit ramps. All coin machines will be removed from the 11 mainline barrier toll plazas. The work to remove the machines and convert the coin lanes to full Service or E-ZPass Only is scheduled to begin during the week of Sept. 24th.

According to the NJTPA:



The impact on traffic should be minimal. The mainline barrier plazas are staffed at all hours. If you want to continue using exact change, you simply will be handing it to a toll collector instead of dropping it into a coin basket. Just make sure you select a full service lane rather than an E-ZPass Only lane.
The coin machines are nearing the end of their useful lives and have become expensive and difficult to maintain. Original manufacturer's parts are no longer available, and parts from third-party vendors are becoming scarce.
The vast majority of drivers use E-ZPass. Nearly 83 percent of the 240.3 million transactions at the mainline barrier plazas in 2017 were paid with E-ZPass. About 12 percent were paid with cash. And just under 5 percent were paid in the coin lanes.
The work to remove the automatic coin machines and convert the lanes to full service or E-ZPass Only will take place over the course of about six weeks at the rate of two plazas per week.

The work will be done by two different crews. One will start at the north and work south, while the other will start at the south and work north.