Another toll hike is approved for the NJ Turnpike and Parkway. See how much tolls are going up.

NJ Turnpike Authority officials approved a $2.7 billion 2025 budget Tuesday that includes the fourth 3% toll increase since 2020 on both the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. The vote to approve the budget came after a drivers group called on Gov. Phil Murphy to veto it.
“Last year the governor temporarily vetoed your 3 percent toll hike and this year he will be under even more pressure to do so in response to the findings from this election (and) the importance of not being tone deaf to the economic concerns of the middle class,“ Steve Carrellas of the National Motorists Association said. ”Don’t be surprised if gubernatorial candidates of both parties make this a campaign issue next year.”
The 3% percent toll increase represents the fifth toll increase since 2020, when the authority gave itself the ability to automatically increase tolls by 3% annually through a process called indexing. That raised tolls in 2020 by 36% on the Turnpike and 27% on the Parkway.
With subsequent 3% annual toll increases starting in 2022, the 2025 proposed budget would bring the total toll increase since 2020 to 45% on the Turnpike and 36% on the Parkway.
“Murphy should veto this budget and, this time, force a lesser increase,” Carrellas said after the meeting. “That includes no increase, but anything less than 3 percent is a win.”
At this rate, Turnpike toll will be at a 100% increase in 2034 while the Parkway will be at a 100% increase in 2036 from 2019 toll rates, he said.
Turnpike officials said the average commuter will see tolls increase by 16 cents. If they travels to and from work on the Turnpike for 250 days in 2025, the toll increase will cost an additional $80, said Tom Feeney, an authority spokesperson.
What had been an innocuous process up until last fall triggered a temporary veto of the toll increase by Murphy on Oct. 26, 2023, saying he was not satisfied with the justification for the toll increase and needed more information on why the hike is needed.
That budget veto came after top Democratic state lawmakers called on Murphy, a fellow Democrat, for a veto two days after the commissioners approved it and less than two weeks before all 120 seats in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature were up for election.
Republican lawmakers also joined the chorus of critics, saying the average Turnpike commuter could spend over an extra $1,000 a year to cover the increased tolls.
Murphy called the veto a time out to analyze data and make an informed decision. The budget memorialized taking a 3% toll increase through a process called indexing, but later approved it when authority commissioners approved it on Jan. 30.
Carrellas has called for more transparency about what economic indicators drive the annual toll increases, noting that other toll authorities base toll increases on the consumer price index or other cost of living indicators.
Last year, Turnpike Authority officials said it bases toll increases through the indexing process on what is needed to fund the capital budget for that year.
Officials said last year that it is based on what’s needed to fund to borrow a billion dollars a year for the capital program over the long term. Past increases have been under the inflation rate, officials explained in 2023.
“About this time of year the motoring public expects word of another automatic toll increase with the only question being “how much?’” Carellas said. “For this Authority, the answer is always 3 percent via so-called indexing but you never tell us about the specifics of the index.”
Turnpike officials did not mention the toll increase or discuss the indexing process during a brief explanation of the budget before it was unanimously approved by a 6-0 vote.
“Enjoy your disgraceful lack of transparency, for it will eventually come back to bite you,” Carrellas said. “You have been forewarned.”
The $2.7 billion 2025 budget is a $95.3 million, or 3.7% increase, from the 2024 budget. The budget includes a projected increase in toll revenue of 2.9% on the Turnpike and 3.7% on the Parkway, or a combined 3.1% compared to the 2024 budget. The 2025 revenue budget assumed a 3% toll rate increase effective January 1, 2025.
Increases in health insurance and benefit costs, contractual wage increases and higher State Police and asset insurance costs are some of the reasons for the budget increase, officials said.
The 2025 budget also funds the first construction contract to replace the Newark Bay Bridge that carries the Turnpike extension between Bayonne and Newark, said James Carone, authority executive director.
That project is the first part of the larger and controversial $10.7 billion project to replace and widen the Hudson County extension that is opposed by Jersey City and Hoboken officials.
Supporters and Turnpike officials said the extension was built in the mid-1950s and is past its useful service life.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry