Move to shield drivers from fine for misusing N.J. cashless toll plaza appears to be in slow lane

A New Jersey lawmaker wants to prohibit the state Turnpike Authority and the South Jersey Transportation Authority from adding a fee when notifying motorists who go through cashless toll plazas without an E-ZPass account.

Drivers who don’t have an E-Z Pass account should not be punished with a fine, said Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, D-Union.

“I’m OK with individuals getting a notice for the amount of the toll, but I’m not in favor for them to then also be charged in addition an administrative fee up to $50,” she said.

Any driver who goes through an E-ZPass lane without an E-ZPass account will have to pay that $50 fee, said Turnpike Authority spokesman Tom Feeney. The turnpike has no cashless toll plazas — and doesn’t plan on any — while the Parkway has just  one at exit 125 southbound into Sayreville.

“If people don’t have E-Z Pass, they should not use that exit,” he said. “I mean, there are two exits into Sayreville, and they would need to go through, pay their cash at the Raritan South toll plaza and use the other exit into Sayreville.”

Even though tolling agencies in other states are switching to cashless tolls, Feeney said there are no plans to add more of them in New Jersey.