SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, Nos. 380 and 799

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: OCTOBER 28, 1996

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill Nos. 380 and 799 SCS.

      Senate Bill Nos. 380 and 799 SCS requires the New Jersey Highway Authority, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the South Jersey Transportation Authority to enter into agreements with a vendor or vendors to implement an automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system on the Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike and the Atlantic City Expressway, respectively, within one year of the bill's effective date. The authorities have tested the feasibility of several types of AVI equipment for improving the traffic flow on their respective toll roads but have not formally selected a common equipment vendor.

      This bill also requires each authority to coordinate its efforts with the other toll road authorities in order to implement an AVI system which is complementary with, or the same as, the other AVI systems to be implemented by the other toll road authorities.

      AVI systems have been installed at several major vehicular crossings in this region including the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge and the Tappan Zee Bridge.

      Several other states including California, Texas, Illinois and Louisiana have implemented AVI systems on their toll roads and bridges which have reportedly yielded substantial improvements in the flow of traffic.

      The bill also requires the New Jersey Highway Authority to report to the Legislature within one year addressing lane configuration, including the feasibility of one-way tolls under the AVI system and progress on the implementation of the AVI system.

FISCAL IMPACT

      In a fiscal estimate prepared by the Office of Legislative Services (OLS), the OLS notes that the Legislature appropriated, as part of the FY 1995 transportation capital program, $4 million for the implementation of an electronic toll and traffic management system (ETTM) on the State's three toll roads. No additional funding has been requested. OLS further notes that the Commissioner of Transportation recently stated that the ETTM system is anticipated to be on-line on the Atlantic City Expressway by April, 1997, and then phased-in on the Turnpike and Parkway thereafter.