SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 646

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 3, 2022

      The Senate Transportation Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 646.

      As reported, this bill prohibits the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and South Jersey Transportation Authority from sending a notice of violation or charging any administrative fees to the owner of a vehicle for an E-ZPass violation unless the authority has first determined that the vehicle is not associated with an existing electronic toll collection system account.  If the vehicle is associated with an existing account, the authority is to relay the license plate information to the lead agency of the electronic toll collection system for toll payment from the account holder.  The account holder may dispute any charges imposed under the provisions of this bill.

     The bill also requires E-ZPass account holders to maintain accurate and updated information on their account.  If an account holder fails to update the license plates associated with the account, the account holder may be issued a notice of violation and charged an administrative fee for the violation.  Each authority is required to establish a program to encourage account holders to keep their information current.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2022-2023 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.