After two plans to raise tolls on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway to fund transportation projects met with intense public controversy, it seems that a plan may finally pass. In a letter sent to Gov. Corzine earlier this week, NJDOT Commissioner and NJ Turnpike Authority Chairman Kris Kolluri outlined adjustments to NJTA’s earlier toll increase plan and the accompanying capital plan.
[Update: The plan did pass.]
The new toll schedule would take effect by the end of 2008, with an increase of $.50 for the average car trip on the Turnpike (10 cents lower than the original plan), and a $.15 increase on the Parkway (consistent with the initial proposal). The second round of increases, set for 2012, would result in an average $.90 increase on the Turnpike and a $.25 increase on the Parkway. The new plan also eliminates a third round of increases initially set for 2023.
Commissioner Kolluri goes on to enumerate reductions in the proposed capital plan, which include halving the length of the Garden State Parkway widening project; the plan would still fund the Access to the Region’s Core train tunnel under the Hudson River. NJTA would also extend off-peak discounts to senior citizens, truck drivers, and drivers of fuel efficient and low-emission vehicles. While it’s heartening that NJTA will be wasting less money on projects like the Parkway widening that won’t relieve congestion (see MTR # 552), these adjustments do not add up to a substantially better plan.
Finally, in a noteworthy snub to the idea of government transparency, the NJTA will vote on the updated toll plan and accompanying capital plan today, only a few hours after the end of the final public hearing, which took place this morning. So for better or for worse, NJ is moving out of its holding pattern, but whether it moves out of its pattern of failure remains to be seen. 
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