The reminiscences of a toll collector ending a 40-year career provide the framework for an article on the impending conversion of Cape May County, New Jersey, Bridge Commission facilities to all-electronic tolling. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the April 1 transition to cashless collection will eliminate a familiar personal experience that’s been part of vacationers’ arrivals at the seashore for the better part of a century.
The newspaper also looks at the deteriorating condition of the agency’s five toll bridges and the county’s 23 other spans. The pivot to cashless collection will save an estimated $400,000 to $500,000 annually, money the county can apply to bridge repair and replacement projects that will have cost between $603 million and $890 million over a 15-year period ending in 2035.