On the way to the Jersey Shore, drivers are shelling out a bit more to pay the tolls on three major roads in the Garden State.
"Obviously not happy about it," Charles Rogers, of New Milford, New Jersey, told NBC10.
The state of the new year brought a 3% toll hike to the Garden State Parkway as well as the New Jersey Turnpike and the Atlantic City Expressway.
"It was a surprise," Nova Scotia resident Donelda Dubois explained.
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At several of the toll plazas on the Parkway, the standard cash price is up one dime to $2.30. Drivers who use E-ZPass still get a discount.
“They just keep going up. It's not fair. Everything is going up, you know and the salaries is not going up. So just makes it hard for everyone," Roselle resident Shawn Holmes said.
This is the fourth straight year of a 3% toll increase on the Parkway and Turnpike. The money collected is used to operate and maintain the roads. It also helps pay for long-term capital projects.
"As long as they continue to maintain the roadways in good order, you know, it kind of is what it is," Rogers said.
Meanwhile, Ocean County Assemblyman Greg Myhre was among the group of lawmakers who unsuccessfully pushed for Gov. Phil Murphy to put the brakes on the toll hikes.
“It's very frustrating, because costs for everything are going up," Assemblyman Myhre said. "If you want to get anywhere quickly, you must use those toll roads. Route nine is highly congested."
A spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority says the annual toll hikes since 2022 are much smaller than many of those that came before them at irregular intervals. Among them was a 50-percent increase on the Parkway in 2012.
“This is just one more burden that we have to deal with," Ocean City resident Pete Thomas said.
