Beginning Sunday, drivers who don't use E-ZPass will use the new TOLL BY PLATE system Watch video
TRENTON - New Jersey drivers crossing the Turnpike Bridge into Pennsylvania can forget their bridge toll money beginning Sunday when a new cashless system is scheduled to begin, authorities said.
File photo Beginning Sunday, drivers who don't use E-ZPass will use the new "TOLL BY PLATE" system. A photo of the vehicle's license plate will be taken and a bill will be mailed to the vehicle's owner.
The first bills are scheduled to go out the week of Jan. 25, the commission said.
"The new bridge toll will be collected automatically at highway speed so Turnpike travelers will not have to stop," PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton said in a release. "The cashless toll is a one-way toll, meaning eastbound Turnpike travelers driving into New Jersey will no longer pay at this location."
The cashless toll is scheduled to open shortly after 12 a.m. on Jan. 3, at the Turnpike Bridge in Bucks County, Pa., which connects the Pennsylvania toll highway to the New Jersey Turnpike at exit 6 in Florence, N.J., as well as other roads.
There will be no change for E-ZPass drivers, which account for more than 80 percent of all traffic at the Delaware River crossing, the commission said.
The charge for westbound passenger vehicles with E-ZPass is $5, while PAY BY PLATE drivers will be charged $6.75. Trucks are charged $5 for each additional axel over the passenger E-ZPass rate, the commission said.
The new toll is the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's first foray into a cashless system across the 550-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike, serving as a pilot program to be evaluated for further use, the commission said.
A video of how the new cashless system will work from the Turnpike:
Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
