New Jersey, United States
Operational and Traffic Benefits of E-ZPass to the New Jersey Turnpike
Summary Information
This study was conducted in September of 2000 to evaluate the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) E-ZPass electronic toll collection system. The study consisted of an extensive data collection effort that involved measuring traffic counts, queue lengths, lane configurations, and transaction times during peak periods at 27 toll locations. Field observations were collected at each toll station during peak periods and the results were evaluated against NJTA toll collection records. The peak period data was entered into a TOLLSIM micro-simulation model in order to generate 24-hour profiles representative of total queue length and average vehicle-class delay before and after E-ZPass deployment at each station. Emission factors such as vehicle type, average vehicle approach speed, acceleration and deceleration rates, and length of time in queue were used to evaluate system-wide air-quality impacts.
Based on weekday turnpike traffic conditions the following estimates were given:
- As a result of reduced queuing fuel consumption estimates have been reduced by 1.2 million gallons per year.
- Estimates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions have been reduced by 0.35 tons per weekday with 80 percent of the reduction resulting from improved light-duty vehicle performance.
