NEW JERSEY – The Garden State Parkway is getting rid of exact change lanes beginning September 24, announced the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Exact change lanes will be removed from all parkway toll plazas, excluding tolls on entrance and exit ramps. Officials said they will be converting these lanes into full service or EZPass Only lanes.
The coin machines in the exact change lanes are nearing the end of their life expectancy and becoming exceedingly difficult and expensive to maintain or fix, according to NJTPA.
NJTPA explained that most drivers, almost 83 percent going through the toll plazas, utilize EZPass anyway. Coin lanes see only about 5 percent of drivers.
Motorists should expect a minimal impact on traffic due to the change.
“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,” stated NJTPA.
The work will begin on September 24. The tolls will be worked on two per week, one north and one south:
- Week 1: Pascack Valley and Cape May
- Week 2: Bergen and Great Egg
- Week 3: Essex and New Gretna
- Week 4: Union and Barnegat
- Week 5: Toms River and Raritan
- Week 6: Asbury Park
