Outrage Growing Among New Jersey Drivers After Tolls On 3 Major Highways Increase
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- You may want to check your E-ZPass statements. Tolls on New Jersey's three toll roads went up on Sunday.
"Outrageous, big uptick. I'm not sure why," driver Dave Jackson said.
Outrage is growing on New Jersey's roads. Tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway all went up overnight.
The biggest increases for tolls on the turnpike were 36%, on the parkway the increase was 27%, and on the AC Expressway, the average increase is 57 cents.
The increases were unanimously approved by the Turnpike Authority back in May, and Gov. Phil Murphy signed off on them. The increase will go to pay for road maintenance and larger projects, including replacing a bridge between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
"It starts to explain some things I think. there's a lot of maintenance that happens on the roads," Jackson said. "I can appreciate the need for the revenue stream, but that seems like a big hike."
This is a double hit to the wallet for drivers in New Jersey. The gas tax is going up next month.
On Oct. 1, the state treasury is increasing the gas tax by 9.3 cents per gallon.
The state treasury says they have to increase the tax because people are driving less during the pandemic. They say consumption of gasoline declined by nearly 39% between March and May at the height of the state's lockdown orders.
Revenue from the gas tax increase will also go to pay for road projects.
