FORT LEE, NJ — Attention drivers on the George Washington Bridge: Your money is no good here.
Starting Sunday, drivers who want to cross the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York will go through an electronic toll system.
Drivers without an E-ZPass who would otherwise pay cash will instead have their license plates captured by overhead cameras and bills mailed to them.
The move by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey comes as a way to help ease congestion on the bridge, the busiest of the three Hudson River crossings the agency oversees.
“Many advocates have been calling for this for a long time, and this is a welcome move,” said Tom Wright, president of the Regional Planning Association.
With the new system in place, the toll booths currently in place will be removed, removing the connection to a memorable chapter in New Jersey’s political history known as “Bridgegate.”
Cars pass through toll booths to use the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey on July 8, 2022. AP
In 2013, traffic in Fort Lee, New Jersey, was snarled for several days when a group of Republican political operatives blocked some of the access lanes leading to toll booths in retaliation for a Democratic mayor disapproving the then governor. Chris Christie up for re-election.
Christie was not charged with anything, but two people were convicted on federal charges. These convictions were later overturned by the Supreme Court. Another, who had pleaded guilty, retracted his plea.
The George Washington Bridge is a crossing point not only for entering New York, but also for drivers using Interstate 95. The Port Authority said more than 49 million vehicles crossed eastbound last year, and it is the most used crossing of Hudson River with trucks.
Cashless tolling has been in use in the Holland Tunnel since December 2020 and is expected to begin in the Lincoln Tunnel later this year, the port authority said.
Wright said using an electronic toll system “serves more drivers faster and more efficiently.” But, he warned, that doesn’t mean there won’t be more traffic jams as vehicles gather to pass through the stretch.
“It’s not like a magic wand,” he said.
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