Port Authority, Cashless Tolling To Cancel GWB’s Carpool Discount

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey signaled it would go ahead with eliminating the carpool discount in January as it expands cashless tolling technology.

For years, commuters have utilized the carpool discount so they would only pay $6.50 at the George Washington Bridge rather than the $15 standard rate. The Port Authority announced in late September that it wanted to cancel the discount.

With the implementation of cashless tolling, officials contend, the discount would not work because toll workers would not be physically present to count how many occupants are in the car.

The cashless tolling system is being installed at the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, for a $240 million price tag. Under the new system, the toll booths would be replaced by mounted cameras which will take a picture of the license plate and either send the bill to the registered owner or deduct the funds from an E-ZPass account, if the owner has one.

Kinga Skora

(201) 939-4242 ext. 131

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