End of an era: Garden State Parkway coin booth phase-out begins

Crews this week will begin removing automatic coin machines from Garden State Parkway mainline barrier toll plazas, officials say.

According to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the coin machines will be replaced with full service or E-ZPass lanes, “because coin machines are nearing the end of their useful lives and have become expensive and difficult to maintain.”

The work will only impact the 11 mainline barrier toll plazas. The ramp plazas, or the toll collection points on exit and entrance ramps, will continue to accept coins, according to the authority.

Officials say the vast majority of drivers use E-ZPass, with nearly 83 percent of all transactions from the transponder, 12 percent paid with cash, and under 5 percent paid in the coin lanes.

Motorists with exact change will still be able to hand it to a toll collector.

The work involving the switching of the toll lanes will occur over a period of six weeks during the day and outside of peak travel periods, according to the authority.

At the Jersey Shore, the work will begin at Cape May this week, followed by Great Egg (week two), New Gretna (week three), Barnegat (week four), Toms River (week five), and Asbury Park (week six).