S799

SENATE, No. 799

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 15, 1996

By Senator HAINES

An Act concerning the collection of tolls on certain projects of the State's toll road authorities and supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in sections 2 through 6 of this act:

"Automatic Vehicle Identification" or "AVI" means an electronic identification system employing radio frequency transponder tags or cards to identify motor vehicles traveling through toll barriers, thereby allowing motorists to pass through toll barriers without stopping and enabling a computerized toll collection system to debit a prepaid account, to send itemized toll bills or to charge to credit cards automatically.

"New Jersey Highway Authority" or "authority" means the public body established under section 4 of P.L.1952, c.16 (C.27:12B-4) or its successor.

2. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the authority shall, within one year of the effective date of this act, enter into an agreement to implement an automatic vehicle identification system utilizing an automated system of toll collection for transit over or use of any toll road or highway project acquired or constructed by it.

3. At each barrier toll or ramp toll, the authority shall reserve one or more AVI toll lanes for the use of motorists who participate in an AVI system established pursuant to section 2 of this act.

4. Authorized representatives of the authority shall meet and consult with representatives of the other toll road authorities to ensure that the AVI system implemented by the authority pursuant to section 2 of this act is complementary with the AVI systems to be implemented by the other toll road authorities pursuant to sections 8 and 12 of this act.

5. It shall be the duty of the authority to arrange the placement of AVI lanes, "Token Only" lanes, "Exact Change" lanes, and "Manual Change" lanes so that the location of these lanes corresponds generally to the left lanes, middle lanes and right lanes, respectively, of the Garden State Parkway. The authority shall also be responsible for displaying signs at a sufficient distance from the toll plazas to give motorists proper notice of the general location of the various types of lanes. The authority shall also effect such other changes in the identification and placement of its toll lanes as it deems necessary to eliminate the traffic hazards and delays which currently exist due to the confusing identification of and absence of standardization with regard to these lanes.

6. The authority shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of such employees of any State, county or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, in order to effectuate the purposes of this act.

7. As used in sections 8 through 10 of this act:

"New Jersey Turnpike Authority" or "authority" means the public body established under section 3 of P.L.1948, c.454 (C.27:23-3) or its successor.

8. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the authority shall, within one year of the effective date of this act, enter into an agreement to implement an automatic vehicle identification system utilizing an automated system of toll collection for transit over or use of any toll road or turnpike project acquired or constructed by it where the payment of tolls is permitted by law.

9. Authorized representatives of the authority shall meet and consult with representatives of the other toll road authorities to ensure that the AVI system implemented by the authority pursuant to section 8 of this act is complementary with the AVI systems to be implemented by other toll road authorities pursuant to section 2 and 12 of this act.

10. The authority shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of such employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, in order to effectuate the purposes of this act.

11. As used in sections 12 through 14 of this act:

"South Jersey Transportation Authority" or "authority" means the public body established under section 4 of P.L.1991, c.252 (C.27:25A-4) or its successor.

12. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the the authority shall, within one year of the effective date of this act, implement an automatic vehicle identification system utilizing an automated system of toll collection for transit over or use of any toll road or expressway project acquired or constructed by it.

13. Authorized representatives of the authority shall meet and consult with representatives of the other toll road authorities to ensure that the AVI system implemented by the authority pursuant to section 12 of this act is complementary with the AVI systems to be implemented by the other toll road authorities pursuant to sections 2 and 8 of this act.

14. The authority shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of such employees of any State, county or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, in order to effectuate the purposes of this act.

15. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the New Jersey Highway Authority, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the South Jersey Transportation Authority to enter into agreements 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 systems for improving the traffic flow on their respective toll roads but they have not as yet selected an AVI system for implementation.

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 the other AVI systems to be implemented by the other toll road authorities.

This bill also makes the New Jersey Highway Authority responsible for standardizing the location of the various types of toll lanes so that the AVI lanes, "Token Only" lanes, "Exact Change" lanes and "Manual Change" lanes correspond generally to the left lanes, middle lanes and right lanes of the Garden State Parkway. In addition, that authority is required to provide as much advance notice as possible through the use of signs to inform motorists of the proper location of the various types of lanes.

AVI systems have been installed at several major vehicular crossings in this region including the Lincoln Tunnel, the Goethals Bridge and the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is currently using an AVI system at the Lincoln Tunnel for electronically billing bus companies and is also considering implementing an AVI system on its toll bridges.

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.

Requires toll road authorities to enter into agreements to implement complementary automatic vehicle identification systems for electronic collection of tolls.