Evaluation of the combined impacts of E-ZPass and time-of-day pricing on port authority of New York and New Jersey crossings

This paper explores the traffic impacts of E-ZPass usage and time-of-day pricing initiated on March 25, 2001, at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) facilities. Trends in cash vs. E-ZPass usage suggest that after the time-of-day pricing initiative, deeper discount for electronic transactions, and expedited crossing at toll booths, resulted in overall higher usage of E-ZPass and reduced traffic during peak and shoulder periods. Passenger car traffic impact analysis shows that time-of-day pricing program has been successful in shifting car travel demand to earlier hours only on weekdays. On the other hand, even though PANYNJ time-of-day pricing program gives truckers an incentive to shift their travel periods, it is not the only factor affecting their travel pattern