Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced its plan to shift its network of toll bridges to cashless all-electronic toll collections by January 2025.
The move follows a trend in electronic toll collections usage on the commission’s spans, which accounts for 89 percent of the commission’s transactions.
Starting next month, the commission will introduce a phased-in “soft conversion” to Toll By Plate at its seven E-ZPass/cash tolling points.
The system captures a vehicle’s license plate for billing purposes.
The Toll By Plate car toll will be $3, equal to the current cash rate. In comparison, E-ZPass users will pay $1.50 in 2024.
The only bridge currently employing a cashless system is the Scudder Falls (I-295) Toll Bridge in Lower Makefield Township. The other seven older bridges accept either E-ZPass or cash.
The New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge in Solebury Township will be the first to offer Toll By Plate as a third payment option starting January 17.
The Solebury Township bridge that connects to Hunterdon County, New Jersey will serve as a testing site before expanding the option to six other toll bridges on January 24, including the Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1) Toll Bridge.
In June 2024, three of the commission’s lowest-volume toll bridges—New Hope-Lambertville, Portland-Columbia, and Milford-Montague—will stop cash collections, exclusively handling E-ZPass and Toll By Plate transactions.
A firm date for this conversion will be announced in spring.
The full switch for the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge and others is scheduled for January 2025.
The switch will be followed by a “hard conversion phase,” which involves removing barrier toll plazas and constructing highway-speed all-electronic tolling gantries.
The first bridge to receive a cashless gantry will be the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge in 2025.
The commission said in a statement they plan to complete this process at all older bridges by 2032.
This transition matches similar actions by other tolling agencies, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, to eliminate cash collections.
The commission currently employs 370 staff, down from 400 in 2019, and ceased hiring full-time toll collectors in early 2020.
For setting up an E-ZPass account, customers are directed to visit the New Jersey E-ZPass Customer Service Center at www.ezpassnj.com.
