The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) is counting down the hours to when it ceases handling cash toll transactions at its four high-traffic-volume toll bridges at Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1), I-78, Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22), and Delaware Water Gap (I-80).
Cash service at the four highway toll bridges is scheduled to end 11 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12, thereby making Monday, Jan. 13, the first full day when those bridges will offer motorists only two toll payment options: E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE, which also is known as license-plate billing.
TOLL BY PLATE involves the capturing of a vehicle’s license plate information so the registered owner can be mailed a bill for payment. TOLL BY PLATE rates are up to twice as much as E-ZPass due to the inherently higher costs of billing and processing payments. The Commission’s current TOLL BY PLATE car toll is $3, the same as it is now for cash. In comparison, the E-ZPass car toll is $1.50.
Motorist Impacts
Motorists who currently use cash to pay their tolls will encounter some changes at the four high-traffic-volume toll bridges next week:
- Toll booths will no longer have attendants and toll booth doors and windows will be closed;
- Only a limited number of toll lanes may be open at a bridge’s toll plaza;
- Any open lane will be able to handle both E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE transactions (note: the Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22) Toll Bridge’s toll plaza has two lanes that are restricted to cars only);
- There will not be separate lanes for E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE customers;
- Shuttered toll booths will have signage directing motorists to keep moving.
87 Years of Cash Collections to End
Once the last cash transaction is completed late Sunday night, the Commission will join the ranks of toll agencies nationally and around the world that have removed toll attendants from toll booths and completely converted to cashless all-electronic payment options that are safer, better for the environment, and less expensive to collect.
Historically, the 90-year-old Commission has been accepting cash in toll-booth lanes for almost 87 years. It opened its first toll bridge – the Bushkill Street Bridge – between Easton and Phillipsburg on January 16, 1938, providing motorists free passage that first day. The first toll was collected at that bridge the following morning. (Note: The Bushkill Street Bridge was renamed the Easton-Phillipsburg Toll Bridge after the construction of highway approaches through Easton in the 1950s.)
The Commission’s inventory of toll bridges grew with the region’s traffic demands and highway expansions during the second half of the 20th Century. At the dawn of the current century, the Commission had seven toll bridges, each with an accompanying plaza of toll booths where vehicles queued to pay cash tolls.
Cash Becomes Passé
With the dawn of a new century, technological advancements enabled the Commission to begin collecting tolls electronically. On the night of November 30, 2002 the Commission initiated E-ZPass service system-wide. E-ZPass use subsequently grew slowly but surely with each passing year.
When the Commission moved to build a replacement bridge for its aging and functionally obsolete Scudder Falls (I-95) Bridge, the Commission determined that it would need to outfit the new structure with a cashless all-electronic system that could collect tolls at highway speeds. Cash collection was not an option. The first span of the new Scudder Falls (I-295) Toll Bridge subsequently opened in July 2019 with an overhead gantry of E-ZPass readers and high-resolution cameras to capture license plates without E-ZPass. The only toll-payment options were E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE.
An Inevitable Outcome
As E-ZPass became the dominant payment method at all Commission toll bridges, the Commission in late 2023 announced plans to shift its entire network of toll bridges to cashless all-electronic tolling (AET).
The first step occurred in January 2024, when the Commission added a system-wide TOLL BY PLATE payment option in addition to E-ZPass and cash. The second step occurred in June 2024, when the Commission ended cash collections at its three low-traffic-volume toll bridges at New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202), Portland-Columbia (Routes 611, 46, and 94), and Milford-Montague (Route 206).
The third step is lined up to occur 11 p.m. Sunday with the cessation of cash toll collections at the Commission’s four remaining toll bridges.
The final step in the Commission’s toll-conversion process is expected to be a protracted one, involving the removal of antiquated barrier toll plazas and the design and construction of highway-speed all-electronic tolling gantries at each toll bridge that once handled cash transactions. The design process for this next “hard conversion” stage is already underway.
The Commission has announced that its New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge will be the first location to be shifted to open-road collections, a project slated for this year.
The current plan calls for hard conversions to be carried out at each of the Commission’s older toll bridges one at a time in each subsequent year, a process currently projected to be completed no later than 2032.
Get E-ZPass to Avoid Higher Toll Rates and Possible Fees, Penalties
With the advancement of its toll conversion process, the Commission is again urging cash-paying motorists to consider the many advantages of E-ZPass use.
E-ZPass is the most convenient, efficient, and cheapest option for paying tolls. The Commission’s toll rates for E-ZPass transactions are up to 50-percent less than the rates for cash and TOLL BY PLATE transactions. Moreover, the best way for motorists to avoid TOLL BY PLATE invoices, higher toll rates, and possible fees and penalties is to set up an E-ZPass account.
To establish an E-ZPass account with the Commission’s toll-processing service provider – the regional New Jersey E-ZPass Customer Service Center – go to: www.ezpassnj.com. If an individual has questions or needs assistance, the Commission’s customer service number is 800-363-0049.
E-ZPass is far and away the most used payment method at Commission toll bridges. System-wide, more than 86 percent of toll transactions involve E-ZPass. The E-ZPass penetration rates for the four bridges shifting to cashless tolling on January 13 are:
- Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1) – 84 percent
- I-78 – 84 percent
- Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22) – 86 percent
- Delaware Water Gap (I-80) – 82 percent
E-ZPass also is the most used electronic toll payment method in the world, with over 59 million toll tags now in circulation. E-ZPass is accepted by 35 toll agencies spread across 20 states, many in the Northeast. Many of these other agencies provide lower rates to motorists who use E-ZPass to pay tolls. Additionally, many of these toll agencies already have cashless/all-electronic toll collection systems.
