NJ to allow Hybrids in NJ Turnpike HOV lanes

HYBRIDS GET HOV ACCESS
Old E-ZPass tags to be replaced before batteries go dead, panel says
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/5/06
BY LARRY HIGGS
STAFF WRITER
WOODBRIDGE — Drivers, your new E-ZPass tag will be in the mail in 2007.

New Jersey Turnpike Authority commissioners approved a $28 million contract Thursday to replace about 1.1 million of the oldest E-ZPass tags before their batteries run out on customers.

Commissioners also approved a pilot program to allow hybrid vehicles to use the high occupancy vehicle lanes on the New Jersey Turnpike between exits 11 and 14 as a fuel-saving measure, starting May 15.

The contract with Mark IV IVHS Inc. calls for replacing the "G2" tags before they are seven years old, the age which the most tags could begin to fail, said Michael LaPolla, executive director of the authority, which also runs the Garden State Parkway. The program to replace about one third of the 3.1 million total tags in circulation will take 12 to 18 months, he said.

"The batteries will fail, and rather than have a situation where they fail and people get violation notices, you'll get a tag in the mail in a prepaid envelope," LaPolla said. "All the agencies using E-ZPass have undergone this."

The tags are sealed, meaning that users can't replace the batteries themselves, said Walter Kristbas, director of electronic toll collection. Other technology in the new transponders also has been improved, he said.

Now, if an E-ZPass customer has a series of toll violations on the same account, officials will flag it as a defective transponder and replace it, said Joe Orlando, authority spokesman.

The new tags will look the same as the current white rectangular transponders but will have batteries that are anticipated to last as long as 10 years compared to the current five-to-seven-year battery life, LaPolla said.

Under a warranty claim settlement with Mark IV, the authority will receive a $3 million credit toward the purchase of new tags. The additional cost to properly dispose of the old tags will be calculated at a later date.

Drivers of hybrid cars also will get a break under a one-year pilot program, which will let them use the high occupancy lanes of the Turnpike, even without the necessary three people on board.

State officials want to encourage the use of hybrid cars, which are more fuel efficient, LaPolla said. Similar use of HOV lanes by hybrids has been implemented in Colorado, California and New York state, he said.

A list of "approved" hybrid vehicles will be placed on the Turnpike Authority's Web site in the next few days, and State Police will be trained to identify vehicles authorized to use the lanes, LaPolla said. The fine for an HOV lane violation is $140 and two motor vehicle points, Orlando said.

Ultimately, depending on the outcome of the pilot program, hybrid drivers may have to obtain a permit to use the HOV lanes if fewer than three people are on board, LaPolla said.

"We'll start it and see how it goes," he said.

In other business, authority commissioner Michael R. DuPont of Red Bank was named treasurer at the meeting.