PORT AUTHORITY EXPANDS E-ZPASS TO AIRPORT PARKING LOTS -- Electronic Collection System Will Cut Waiting Times

E-ZPass, the electronic toll and fee collection system that has significantly reduced congestion and improved customer service at the Port Authority’s bridges and tunnels, is now coming to the bistate agency’s airport parking lots – making travel easier for millions of passengers who drive to the airports each year.

The Port Authority Board of Commissioners today approved a $29.9 million project to install E-ZPass in all 27 parking lots at John F. Kennedy International, Newark International and LaGuardia airports over the next two years. The new customer service, called E-ZPassPlus, will debut in about a year at Kennedy Airport.

When E-ZPassPlus is in place, motorists will see a sharp drop in the time it takes them to pay for parking and exit airport lots. E-ZPassPlus will be the first significant use of E-ZPass beyond the collection of tolls. The new service will be available to customers driving nearly 5 million vehicles with E-ZPass in the United States and Canada.

Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle said, "Waiting in lines to exit parking areas is a problem that cries out for a solution."

E-ZPassPlus users will see a 50-percent drop in parking-lot transaction times.

-- Existing E-ZPass customers will be able to use their same account and their same electronic tags to take advantage of E-ZPassPlus. Parking transactions will appear on customers’ monthly E-ZPass statements.

-- By the end of 2002, about 70 of the 109 exit lanes at Port Authority airport parking lots will be equipped with E-ZPassPlus technology.

To maintain security, all airport parking customers will continue to use the ticket system when they enter and leave the lots. Future enhancements of E-ZPassPlus could incorporate evolving state-of-the-art technology that would eliminate tickets for E-ZPassPlus customers and further improve transaction times.