Yesterday, New Jersey officials attended a South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) groundbreaking ceremony for the project to install an all-electronic tolling system on the Atlantic City Expressway, NJ.com (subscription required) reports. Leaving room for proposed future widening, 11 gantries will be installed and operational by May 2025 under the terms of a $30.59 million contract (with South State, Inc.). After construction, the company will demolish the existing toll plazas. In addition to the project’s traffic safety and congestion reduction impacts, officials said it is a major step toward their larger goal of interoperability with other tolling facilities across the country. NJDOT Commissioner and SJTA board chair Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti noted that IBTTA and its US members are “working to make toll collection seamless.” To bring AET to the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, the turnpike authority has the option of “piggybacking” onto the SJTA’s $159 million contract with TransCore for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the expressway tolling system.
The Press of Atlantic City provides text and video coverage of the groundbreaking.