Cashless tolling, wider lanes credited with fewer accidents along Goethals Bridge
JERSEY CITY, NJ - OCTOBER 13: Cars make their way to a toll plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike on October 13, 2018 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — Cashless tolling and wider lanes have made the Goethals Bridge a safer place for motorists, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.
Crashes on the span, which links Elizabeth with Staten Island, New York, have declined by 57% since the agency completed its $1.5 billion improvements, the agency said.
“In 2019, the accident rate on the new Goethals Bridge was 2.29 per million vehicles, down from 5.37 per million vehicles in 2014,” the agency said. The reduction occurred despite an increase of more than 7 million vehicles annually by 2019 at the crossing since 2014.
Cashless tolling allows motorists to maintain speed and lanes while overhead sensors deduct tolls for E-ZPass account holders. Photos are taken of license plates on vehicles that don't have E-ZPass and motorists are mailed a bill.
The agency plans to increase cashless tolling at its other crossings.
“In the long term, we believe this trend will continue not only at the Staten Island crossings but at the trans-Hudson crossings as we continue to roll out cashless tolling at the Holland and Lincoln tunnels and George Washington Bridge by 2021,” said executive director Rick Cotton.