New Rates
Beginning Jan. 1, he and hundreds of thousands of other Jerseyans have another major obstacle to contend with: a 53 percent toll hike on the Turnpike and 50 percent increase on the Parkway.
"Fifty percent thats no joke," said Shupak, 38, a mutual fund administration manager who has made the commute for five years.
Signs are going up tomorrow reminding the drivers who make 600 million trips a year on the Parkway and Turnpike about the hike the second part of a two-phase toll increase adopted by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority under Gov. Jon Corzine in October 2008.
Beginning at 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, the average passenger vehicle toll will rise from $2.20 to $3.30 on the Turnpike and 70 cents to $1.05 on the Parkway. The average truck toll will increase from $7.95 to $12.15 on the Turnpike and $1.40 to $2.15 on the Parkway.
A passenger vehicle trip from Turnpike Exit 14 in Newark to Exit 9 in East Brunswick will jump from $2.85 to $4.35.
"Thats a lot of money," said New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel, who spoke against the toll increases in 2008. "Its a hidden tax."
Want to drive from Asbury Park to take in a show in Manhattan? A round trip that three months ago cost $16.70 will be as much as $25 on Jan. 1, factoring in the toll hikes on the Parkway, Turnpike and Lincoln Tunnel. And thats before you pay a cent at the parking garage in Manhattan.
While a squabble over the federal payroll tax rivets the country, a hidden fee equally dire for many Jerseyans is about to go into effect without a whimper.
Shupak pays $5.20 a day in combined Parkway and Turnpike tolls on his tough 140-mile round-trip a number that is set to rise to $7.80 daily on New Years Day.
Under the new hikes, he would fork over $13 more a week in tolls or $650 a year for 50 workweeks.
Cathleen Lewis, director of public affairs for AAA New Jersey Automobile Club, said the money from the toll hikes is necessary for road and bridge repairs, but New Jersey needs to create a sustainable solution for its perennially cash-strapped Transportation Trust Fund. The fund, which pays for road and bridge repairs and transit projects, had been raided over the years to help balance the state budget.
Meanwhile, New Jerseys gas tax, third lowest in America at 10.5 cents a gallon, has remained untouched.
corzine-tolls.JPGAP Photo/Sharon StableyFormer N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine
"Our roads need to be repaired, and we need to find ways to fund that," Lewis said. "Unfortunately, the only way that seems to be working is toll hikes, which hit commuters right in the wallet. People are okay with increases to tolls and the gas tax as long as its going to the right places. And right now its not going to the right places."
Ronnie Hakim, executive director of the Turnpike Authority, said the toll increases will pay for vital construction projects.
"Those toll dollars are what supports our capital program," she said. "They also, to a certain extent, support the states transportation capital program. Thats good for the state immediately because it generates jobs. And its good for the state long-term, because it enhances the state of good repair and the capacity of our roads."
Nearly all of the revenue from the two phases of the toll increase is going toward a 10-year, $7 billion capital program that includes widening of the Turnpike and Parkway and dozens of other projects that will relieve congestion, restore bridges, improve interchanges, expand the use of technology and increase safety, Turnpike Authority spokesman Tom Feeney noted.
Some experts say the toll hikes could change commuting habits for drivers.
The recent boost in rates by the Port Authority toll hikes prompted more people to carpool, work from home or take the train. In the first two months of the toll increase, nearly 900,000 fewer cars and trucks used the Port Authority crossings, while 560,000 more riders took the PATH trains. Officials predict more of the same after the New Jersey toll road increases.
Traffic already is down on the Turnpike and Parkway this year, and revenues on the toll roads were expected to be about $47 million less than projected for 2011. Unemployment, higher gas prices and some of the worst weather in New Jersey history were blamed for the revenue shortage.
The Turnpike Authority on Wednesday passed a 2012 budget that remains flat at $475.5 million and includes an employee work force that has shrunk by 141 because of attrition. The 2012 operating budget is 1 percent less than the 2008 budget, Feeney said.
Prior to the 2008 toll hike, there had only been one increase in the 58-year history of the Parkway in 1989, he said. The 60-year-old Turnpike had five increases before the 2008 toll hike in 2003, 2000, 1991, 1980 and 1975.
Previous highway toll increases did not lead to rider gains on NJ Transit.
"An analysis of the 1989 and 2008 toll increases does not correlate to any measurable impact on NJ Transit ridership," said NJ Transit spokesman John Durso Jr.
NJ Transit had an increase of its own last year, raising fares an average of 22 percent, with some off-peak round-trip fares jumping as much as 64 percent.
Steve Carrellas, the New Jersey representative of the National Motorists Association driving-rights group, said that unless the economy improves, the toll hikes on the Parkway and Turnpike will further lessen traffic and prompt more people to work from home or take fewer trips.
"Its really in the hands of the authority to show what value the motoring public is going to get from this planned toll hike or motorists may strongly consider other alternatives," he said.
Arthur Fliegelman, who commutes by bus from East Brunswick to New York, believes a gas tax would be more equitable than more toll hikes on the Turnpike, which bisects his county.
"Basically they said, Were going to put a property tax on Middlesex County, but if you live in Morris County youre not going to have it, and if you live in Sussex County, youre not going to have it,â " said Fliegelman, a member of the East Brunswick Commuter Advisory Committee, a group of area residents that advises the township on commuting-related concerns.
"They say its not a tax increase, but it smells the same," he said.