Cash Collections are Coming Back to Bridges

I grew up in central Jersey, yes it does exist and we had a beach house in Seaside Heights from way before I was born and we sold it when I was about 12. It was heartbreaking when we sold it, but I have fond memories of being down the shore on the beach and boardwalk. You wanna know one of my favorite memories? The drive down to the beach house. My mom always made it so entertaining for my brother and I whenever we drove down and back in the 80's and 90's, there was no EZ Pass. So, we'd drive through the tolls and either toss in a token or 35 cents. I always remember how excited we would get watching my mom throw the token or change into the little bucket and then we'd be "granted permission" to keep going to the beach house. Super fun for little kids. Nowadays, we all have Ez Pass, so it's not as fun, but I will still try to make a fun game out of it when my son gets a little older.

Back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, highways, bridges and tunnels became cashless to keep toll collectors safe from the virus. The Patch reports that starting tomorrow (May 13th) starting at 11pm, both the Trenton Morrisville bridge and the New Hope Lambertville bridge will start accepting cash again. The toll collectors will be protected by wearing masks and gloves and drivers are urged to wear their masks just for the transaction. If drivers do not have Ez Pass, they can go to the lanes that are labeled for cash. When the cashless tolls were taking place, drivers who did not have Ez Pass were just instructed to go through the toll and they would be mailed a bill for the toll.

I'm sure more bridges, tunnels and highways will start to do the same thing and begin accepting cash again at tolls. Our state is in such financial trouble, it makes sense, as long as they can keep toll collectors and drivers safe.