New Jersey Turnpike

[1995hoo]

I'm sure it's probably been mentioned somewhere, but what's the percentage of E-ZPass v. cash these days and how does it compare to, say, ten years ago?

[cpzilliacus]

I'm sure it's probably been mentioned somewhere, but what's the percentage of E-ZPass v. cash these days and how does it compare to, say, ten years ago?

In 2012, according to the Turnpike Authority's Annual Report on their Web site here, the E-ZPass share on the Parkway was 76% and better than 79% on the Turnpike.

[PHLBOS]

Does the widening of the southbound outer carriageway frrom Exit 9 to Exit 8A still remain to be done?

I traveled the outer southbound lanes last night (Nov. 30).  It's now striped as 3-through lanes.

[jeffandnicole]

I'm sure it's probably been mentioned somewhere, but what's the percentage of E-ZPass v. cash these days and how does it compare to, say, ten years ago?

In 2012, according to the Turnpike Authority's Annual Report on their Web site here, the E-ZPass share on the Parkway was 76% and better than 79% on the Turnpike.

In October, 2014, EZ Pass usage on the NJ Turnpike was 81.2% (80.5% in October, 2013).  On the Parkway, usage was 78% (77.5% in October, 2013).  http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/documents/Monthly_financials_through_October_2014.pdf

I would imagine the usage on the Parkway is a bit less because of the change-only lanes, and some people would just rather throw change into the basket rather than getting EZ Pass.  After all, the coin baskets were the original non-stop payment method on the Parkway.

When I exit at Interchange 3 during rush hour, Rt. 168 is often backed up, and that creates congestion back thru the toll plaza, especially in the EZ Pass Only lane.  There's been numerous times I've elected to take the mixed-mode lanes instead to pay with EZ Pass.  My experiences are typical of the numbers above...there's several vehicles that go straight thru the lane without stopping, and on occasion one or two do stop to pay with cash.  Overall, if the EZ Pass lane is backed up nearly to the Turnpike's mainline, I will save time by using the mixed-mode lanes. 

[1995hoo]

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Do you know how the current percentages compare to ten years ago? No doubt the proliferation of E-ZPass to more states has been one factor in the increased use on the Turnpike.



Unrelated query: So how did the traffic flow yesterday through the new southbound carriageway merge? I haven't travelled to New York over Thanksgiving weekend since 1991, and that trip was a short one (up Friday morning, back Friday night) to see my grandfather in the hospital (he died a week later), so I didn't encounter the heavy "Sunday-after" traffic.

[jeffandnicole]

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Do you know how the current percentages compare to ten years ago? No doubt the proliferation of E-ZPass to more states has been one factor in the increased use on the Turnpike.

I couldn't find (after a brief search) regarding EZ Pass usage from about 10 years ago.  But I did find that current commercial truck EZ Pass usage is nearly 90%.

Unrelated query: So how did the traffic flow yesterday through the new southbound carriageway merge? I haven't travelled to New York over Thanksgiving weekend since 1991, and that trip was a short one (up Friday morning, back Friday night) to see my grandfather in the hospital (he died a week later), so I didn't encounter the heavy "Sunday-after" traffic.

I'm treating it as no news is good news.  I don't see any new stories regarding traffic jams on the Turnpike over the weekend.

[hubcity]

Unrelated query: So how did the traffic flow yesterday through the new southbound carriageway merge? I haven't travelled to New York over Thanksgiving weekend since 1991, and that trip was a short one (up Friday morning, back Friday night) to see my grandfather in the hospital (he died a week later), so I didn't encounter the heavy "Sunday-after" traffic.

I'm treating it as no news is good news.  I don't see any new stories regarding traffic jams on the Turnpike over the weekend.

Looked like there was a nice jam between Exit 3 and the southern terminus (60 minutes extra travel time per my daughter, who was returning to college with friends...)

[BrianP]

Looked like there was a nice jam between Exit 3 and the southern terminus (60 minutes extra travel time per my daughter, who was returning to college with friends...)

That problem is in Delaware.  I-295 still being only two lanes for each direction in Delaware is terrible.  The same problem occurred northbound.  The five lanes of NB I-95 were effectively squeezing down to two lanes of I-295.

Widening the southern NJTPK would only exacerbate that problem going SB.

[cl94]

Looked like there was a nice jam between Exit 3 and the southern terminus (60 minutes extra travel time per my daughter, who was returning to college with friends...)

That problem is in Delaware.  I-295 still being only two lanes for each direction in Delaware is terrible.  The same problem occurred northbound.  The five lanes of NB I-95 were effectively squeezing down to two lanes of I-295.

Widening the southern NJTPK would only exacerbate that problem going SB.

Precisely. Narrowest segment determines the capacity of the entire highway system. North of US 13, there are four lanes per direction split equally between the Turnpike and I-295. The southernmost mile has only two. As most of the traffic from Jersey is going to I-95 south and the reverse for traffic heading to Jersey, you get backups, especially because through traffic along I-95 is directed to use that narrow section of I-295. No need to encourage any more people to go that way by widening the Turnpike. If anything, completing I-95 might help reduce it at times when Philadelphia isn't too congested.

[DrSmith]

Its been a while (11 years now) since I lived in DE, but I thought one of the problems was the lane changing/weaving as you head north through Churchman's marsh on I-95.  North of the Rt 1 interchange, the signage were (and I believe still are) signs that indicate the routes with down arrows pointing to the lanes for the 95/295 split.  While I think it is almost 2 miles ahead, I felt these signs sort of indicated a required lane change now.  Because a little bit past some of the first signs indicating the lanes for the split as you head into Churchman's marsh, the highway would open up and start flowing again (which I saw on many Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays). In that case, it brings a question of what kind of signage and indicating the distance to make the lane change would help traffic flow better (ie. using diagrammatic lane signs etc with distance before putting signs with down arrows for specific lanes)? Maybe some things are a little better now with the revised Rt 1 interchange, as I haven't driven through there in traffic since that change.  But overall, the lanes on 295 never seemed to as severely limit the traffic flow as the weaving to me. Not sure the number of lanes on the NJTP would make a significant difference on the problems in Delaware.

[mtantillo]

It's not really 5 lanes squeezing into 2. Some people do go into Wilmington and Philly. Which is a great alternate when Del Mem Br and approaches are jammed. Use I-495 (might need to use I-95 through Wilmington SB where 495 narrows to a single lane) to the Commodore Barry Bridge over to 295. That maybe cost me 5 extra minutes over the Turnpike all the way when no delays, which seems better than the college kids' experience mentioned above.

[MASTERNC]

Unrelated query: So how did the traffic flow yesterday through the new southbound carriageway merge? I haven't travelled to New York over Thanksgiving weekend since 1991, and that trip was a short one (up Friday morning, back Friday night) to see my grandfather in the hospital (he died a week later), so I didn't encounter the heavy "Sunday-after" traffic.

I listened to the traffic report last night and did not hear any mention of that stretch of Turnpike (unlike past holiday weekends). 

[jeffandnicole]

It's not really 5 lanes squeezing into 2. Some people do go into Wilmington and Philly. Which is a great alternate when Del Mem Br and approaches are jammed. Use I-495 (might need to use I-95 through Wilmington SB where 495 narrows to a single lane) to the Commodore Barry Bridge over to 295. That maybe cost me 5 extra minutes over the Turnpike all the way when no delays, which seems better than the college kids' experience mentioned above.

495 SB starts as 2 lanes then quickly widens to 3 lanes for it's entire length past Wilmington, then becomes 2 lanes again at 95. And there's no convenient way to switch between 95 & 495 anywhere along the route.

[jeffandnicole]

Its been a while (11 years now) since I lived in DE, but I thought one of the problems was the lane changing/weaving as you head north through Churchman's marsh on I-95.  North of the Rt 1 interchange, the signage were (and I believe still are) signs that indicate the routes with down arrows pointing to the lanes for the 95/295 split.  While I think it is almost 2 miles ahead, I felt these signs sort of indicated a required lane change now. 

This.

I think *some* of the congestion would be eliminated if they listed '2 Miles', '1 Mile', etc, on the 295 sign.  And technically, it's an exit from I-95, although it's never been signed as such.

Because a little bit past some of the first signs indicating the lanes for the split as you head into Churchman's marsh, the highway would open up and start flowing again (which I saw on many Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays).

It used to.  But anymore, congestion is so heavy that it's really a solid line of traffic from about Rt. 1 to past Rt. 141.

Maybe some things are a little better now with the revised Rt 1 interchange, as I haven't driven through there in traffic since that change. 

It is a bit better, especially when traffic coming off Rt. 1 doesn't need to cross at least 3 lanes of 95 to get to the left side of the highway.  And because people aren't trying to merge out of nearly stopped traffic, it allows that entire left side of the highway to flow better when the right side is a bit congested.  We're not talking people flying by at 70 on the left because some of those people are still trying to merge right, but it is better.

But overall, the lanes on 295 never seemed to as severely limit the traffic flow as the weaving to me. Not sure the number of lanes on the NJTP would make a significant difference on the problems in Delaware.

Especially today, it's the Turnpike SB that wouldn't benefit from a lane expansion if you want to consider traffic flow south of the Turnpike.  Currently, you have 2 lanes of 295 and 2 lanes of the Turnpike merging onto 4 lanes at the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  After that bridge is the first clusterfuck: There's 12 toll lanes at that bridge.  Proper stripping after that toll plaza would have approximately every 3 lanes merge into 1 lane.  Instead, the left 6 lanes all merge into one lane, the middle two toll booths come out into their own lane, and the right 4 lanes or so all merge into the right lane.  What occurs is people coming out from the left booths immediately merge left more because they are told to stay left for I-95...even though those on the left need to merge to the right because that space ends. Then once that's all sorted out by the Rt. 9 overpass, the vast majority of the traffic needs to remain in the far 2 left lanes for 95.  Some will take US 13 South/US 40 West, and very few take the other options.

But then again, going back to widening the NJ Turnpike, when has Delaware cared about anything NJ wants or has done?  The Turnpike can expand to 12 lanes thru South Jersey. Let Delaware worry about the traffic load!

[mtantillo]

It's not really 5 lanes squeezing into 2. Some people do go into Wilmington and Philly. Which is a great alternate when Del Mem Br and approaches are jammed. Use I-495 (might need to use I-95 through Wilmington SB where 495 narrows to a single lane) to the Commodore Barry Bridge over to 295. That maybe cost me 5 extra minutes over the Turnpike all the way when no delays, which seems better than the college kids' experience mentioned above.

495 SB starts as 2 lanes then quickly widens to 3 lanes for it's entire length past Wilmington, then becomes 2 lanes again at 95. And there's no convenient way to switch between 95 & 495 anywhere along the route.

Jeff, I-495 narrows down to a single lane at its south end. It has been that way since the summer closure of I-495...they restriped the lanes to have two through lanes from 95 through Wilmington meeting 1 through lane from 495 to make 3 lanes. Prior to the 495 closure, it was the opposite...I-95 had one lane and I-495 had two lanes. They never removed the "temporary" reduction to a single lane on 495. 

When I passed through the area on Sunday evening, I noticed 495 traffic was stopped (red/black on Google) back to Exit 1, and 95 was free flowing, so I took 95 through Wilmington and avoided 495 completely. Normally, I know that you can take the "to Exits 5 B/A" ramp and then cut left to avoid the single lane of 495, but because of the severity of the backup on Sunday, I would have had to sit through most of that delay to reach the ramp, so I figured it was better to just bypass it completely.

[mtantillo]

Its been a while (11 years now) since I lived in DE, but I thought one of the problems was the lane changing/weaving as you head north through Churchman's marsh on I-95.  North of the Rt 1 interchange, the signage were (and I believe still are) signs that indicate the routes with down arrows pointing to the lanes for the 95/295 split.  While I think it is almost 2 miles ahead, I felt these signs sort of indicated a required lane change now. 

This.

I think *some* of the congestion would be eliminated if they listed '2 Miles', '1 Mile', etc, on the 295 sign.  And technically, it's an exit from I-95, although it's never been signed as such.

Because a little bit past some of the first signs indicating the lanes for the split as you head into Churchman's marsh, the highway would open up and start flowing again (which I saw on many Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays).

It used to.  But anymore, congestion is so heavy that it's really a solid line of traffic from about Rt. 1 to past Rt. 141.

Maybe some things are a little better now with the revised Rt 1 interchange, as I haven't driven through there in traffic since that change. 

It is a bit better, especially when traffic coming off Rt. 1 doesn't need to cross at least 3 lanes of 95 to get to the left side of the highway.  And because people aren't trying to merge out of nearly stopped traffic, it allows that entire left side of the highway to flow better when the right side is a bit congested.  We're not talking people flying by at 70 on the left because some of those people are still trying to merge right, but it is better.

But overall, the lanes on 295 never seemed to as severely limit the traffic flow as the weaving to me. Not sure the number of lanes on the NJTP would make a significant difference on the problems in Delaware.

Especially today, it's the Turnpike SB that wouldn't benefit from a lane expansion if you want to consider traffic flow south of the Turnpike.  Currently, you have 2 lanes of 295 and 2 lanes of the Turnpike merging onto 4 lanes at the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  After that bridge is the first clusterfuck: There's 12 toll lanes at that bridge.  Proper stripping after that toll plaza would have approximately every 3 lanes merge into 1 lane.  Instead, the left 6 lanes all merge into one lane, the middle two toll booths come out into their own lane, and the right 4 lanes or so all merge into the right lane.  What occurs is people coming out from the left booths immediately merge left more because they are told to stay left for I-95...even though those on the left need to merge to the right because that space ends. Then once that's all sorted out by the Rt. 9 overpass, the vast majority of the traffic needs to remain in the far 2 left lanes for 95.  Some will take US 13 South/US 40 West, and very few take the other options.

But then again, going back to widening the NJ Turnpike, when has Delaware cared about anything NJ wants or has done?  The Turnpike can expand to 12 lanes thru South Jersey. Let Delaware worry about the traffic load!

Ugh, I **HATE** the arrangement of that toll plaza at the bridge. That is a horrible layout. The E-ZPass lanes on the left have 3 times the throughput of the cash lanes in the center. When you factor that in, the left lane of I-295 has 9 times as much traffic in it as the center two cash lanes. And those left E-ZPass lanes are the most backed up whenever there is a problem further south.

I've long learned that the secret to easily getting through that plaza is to keep to the far right...there are usually at least one or two E-ZPass Only lanes on the right (for trucks), there is a lot less traffic merging, and it is a lot more "natural" to merge towards the left than towards the right. Then I have enough time to cut left for I-95, or if traffic is really bad, just stay right for US 40.

[02 Park Ave]

Is E-85 available at any service area on the Turnpike?

[NE2]

Is E-85 available at any service area on the Turnpike?

The E 85 starts from Klaipėda (Lithuania) runs south through Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria to Greece, ending at Alexandroupolis.

[1995hoo]

....

I've long learned that the secret to easily getting through that plaza is to keep to the far right...there are usually at least one or two E-ZPass Only lanes on the right (for trucks), there is a lot less traffic merging, and it is a lot more "natural" to merge towards the left than towards the right. Then I have enough time to cut left for I-95, or if traffic is really bad, just stay right for US 40.

This comment amuses me because back in the days prior to E-ZPass when I paid cash at toll plazas, I always found it was fastest (assuming there was no toll machine option) to go all the way to the right where the trucks were told to go. Those lanes always seemed to get through faster and I always assumed it was a combination of (a) fewer vehicles waiting on line at each lane because you might have three trucks in the same space nine cars might otherwise occupy; (b) car drivers usually avoided those lanes; and (c) I always assumed the truck drivers, who drive the roads frequently, might be more likely to know the toll amount in advance than the car drivers ("jeffandnicole" has said in his experience this wasn't always true).

....

Especially today, it's the Turnpike SB that wouldn't benefit from a lane expansion if you want to consider traffic flow south of the Turnpike.  Currently, you have 2 lanes of 295 and 2 lanes of the Turnpike merging onto 4 lanes at the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  After that bridge is the first clusterfuck: There's 12 toll lanes at that bridge.  Proper stripping after that toll plaza would have approximately every 3 lanes merge into 1 lane.  ....

I daresay if they positioned strippers after that toll plaza, traffic congestion would get worse as people slowed to watch the show. 

[storm2k]

Is E-85 available at any service area on the Turnpike?

No. I don't think Sunoco sells it in NJ.

[02 Park Ave]

It looks like the southbound outer roadway is backing-up at the merge south of Exit 6.

[jeffandnicole]

It looks like the southbound outer roadway is backing-up at the merge south of Exit 6.

Any idea how long the jam was or for what time, if it involved the inner roadway as well, or if it was at the actual merge for just pertaining to Interchange 6?

At least on nj.com, there was no mention of it today.  It wouldn't be totally surprising that one of the biggest travel days of the year would experience congestion in that area.  I did hear that the Turnpike south of Interchange 2 experienced congestion all the way into Delaware.   Because Delaware.

[PHLBOS]

One gripe about the newly-added/widened outer corridors: is it me or does there seem to be less merge space for the entrance ramps (based on the striping) and the merge angles more abrupt?

I've traveled this stretch round-trip at least twice since the full opening and noticed such.  On a couple of occasions; I've had to hit the brakes (to allow the through traffic in the right lane to pass) prior to my getting in the right travel lane.  Previously, there was always a merge/accelaration lane that ran parallel with the right travel lane for a distance prior to merging.

While not as bad as the short merge or die ramps along the Schuylkill Expressway in Philly; the somewhat shorter and more blunt merge is a bit disconcerting... and I'm driving a car.  It's probably even worse for a truck, bus or semi entering.

Clearly, somebody screwed up at least with the lane merge striping (not sure about the road/shoulder surface depth limits).

[Mr. Matté]

The NJ Turnpike always (or at least as of recent memory) had those angled acceleration "lanes." Here's an example of an unchanged existing entrance ramp onto the mainline. The new roadway seems to have gotten rid of the two or three "stripe-lengths" of lane before ending like here.

[jeffandnicole]

In almost all instances, the Turnpike utilized tapered merging rather than acceleration lane merging at all of their interchanges.  (Interestingly enough, during the construction phase they used acceleration lanes rather than tapered merges)

I remember specifically asking this question at one of the public info meetings prior to construction.  At the time, I was told they were definitely considering, if not implementing, acceleration lanes instead of the tapered merges that the Turnpike has always preferred.  Obviously, they went with the tapered merges instead.

Yes, I have noticed the merges seem a bit more abrupt as well.