Jurassic Parkway?

It's Friday. You've been looking forward to this holiday weekend. You're heading home. The air-conditioner's on and so is the stereo. What a pleasure it is to drive on the Parkway in the Summer! Each curve offers a different pleasant landscape.

And then it happens.

The road straightens out and widens into a funnel. Traffic is backed up so far it's hard to see the toll plaza looming ahead. Do you have any change? As you try to look for it, the car ahead starts to roll and you've got to stop looking and move fast so that you don't lose you're place in line. A sinking feeling sets in… After getting that coffee and donut, you forgot to go to the ATM! What are you going to do now?

You can't back up. You just have to keep inching forward. The summer temperatures, the idling and the air-conditioner on the car are starting to cause your engine to overheat! You turn off the AC and open the windows. The hot, thick, exhaust-fume polluted air pours in.

Why do we punish New Jersey motorists like this?

As an engineering marvel, the Garden State Parkway is a source of pride for all New Jerseyans. What a shame that it is the funded by a seemingly endless series of toll plazas that repeatedly snarl traffic for a measly 35 cents at a pop.

Economically, this makes no sense. Each thirty-five cent toll costs thirteen cents to collect. In addition to the cost of 800 toll collectors, the Parkway Authority pays for moving, storing, and securing 1.18 billion coins each year, twelve executives making an average of $150,00 per year each, and a fully staffed Public Affairs Department.

In terms of traffic flow, constructing a world-class highway and then placing toll tourniquets up and down its length seems absurd.

As far as its environmental impact is concerned, forcing tens of thousands of cars to idle and belch fumes at a toll plaza day-in and day-out just adds to air pollution.

With today's high cost of gasoline, both in terms of conserving energy and saving money, it's all that much more important to keep traffic flowing efficiently. Compelling tens of thousands of motorists to needlessly sit in a parked vehicle with the engine running just to pay tolls is very fuelish.

And how can one calculate the cost of this system in lost productivity? How many hours does each driver lose every day? What does that add up to in lost work hours each year? And for each rider, what about all the wasted time that could have been spent in personal pursuits with family and friends? Considering daily commuters, how much of their lives are they being cheated out of by being forced to wait, maybe many times, morning and night, to hand over a little change?

Toll Booths are also responsible for many accidents. That's why Connecticut banned them.

The toll system on the Garden State Parkway is so out-dated you could aptly call it the Jurassic Parkway.

It's time to get these dinosaurs off the road!

Nobody Should Pay For The Parkway's High Costs!

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