New Cameras to Nab Violators at Parkway Tolls

If you're throwing change in the exact change lanes of Garden State Parkway toll plazas, and miss or shortchange the parkway toll, it's time to smile for the cameras.

Cameras are now being used to enforce toll collection in the exact change lanes on the Garden State Parkway, said Tom Feeney, spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. That started Monday.

“This is entirely about being fair to people who use the tolls and pay the tolls,” Feeney said.

Toll enforcement officers will be eliminated from the Parkway and cameras will be used in every exact change lane, he said. If a driver doesn't pay the proper toll, the camera will capture an image of the license plate.

The registered owner of the vehicle will be sent a notice for payment of the toll plus a $50 administrative fee, he said.

Under current operations, three toll enforcement officers are assigned to the exact change lanes on the Parkway and they move from toll plaza to toll plaza, Feeney said.

There are 84 exact change lanes on the Parkway so on any given day only three lanes would be monitored, he said.

The officers work behind one-way mirrors and they are able to see the amount of change dropped in the coin basket, he said. If a motorist does not pay the proper toll, the enforcement officer writes down the license plate number and a description of the vehicle. State Police then send a $55 summons to the owner of the vehicle.

“In the past, it was really dependent on the honor system but it was highly unlikely that someone who cheats the system would get caught,” Feeney said.

About 17 percent of the Parkway's traffic uses the exact change lanes, Feeney said. About $38.1 million in revenue was collected in 2010 but $4 million was lost. The exact change lanes account for 53 percent of the Parkway’s losses.

On average, about 17,950 summonses were issued each year between 2007 and 2010, he said.

Now that the cameras are going to be activated, it is highly likely that those who do not pay the tolls will get caught, Feeney said.

The cameras have actually been in place since E-ZPass was introduced on the Parkway in 1999 and 2000. Since then, there have been improvements in software upgrades, enabling the NJ Turnpike Authority to use the cameras.