Driving in New Jersey to get more expensive as fuel taxes, tolls rise in new year

Driving in New Jersey will cost more starting Jan. 1, thanks to increasing fuel taxes and highway, bridge and tunnel tolls.

One fee, called the petroleum products gross receipts tax, will increase by 4.2 cents per gallon. For gasoline, that new rate will be 38.6 cents, and for diesel, 42.6 cents. A separate fee, called the motor fuels tax, remains unchanged. Together, the per-gallon state taxes will account for 49.1 cents per gallon of gasoline and 56.1 cents for diesel.

In all, the per-gallon gasoline price in the state averaged $2.83 on Dec. 31, according to AAA New Jersey. For diesel, the average was $3.69.

The taxes replenish the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for road and mass-transit capital improvements. Under state law, the fees rise to meet revenue targets. The 2026 charges are expected to raise $2.1 billion.

Motorists also will pay more for infrastructure:

• Tolls will go up 3% on the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and the Atlantic City Expressway. All are operated by the New Jersey Highway Authority, which charges different rates for E-ZPass, toll-by-plate, and cash.

• Eight crossings operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will charge 50 cents more per passenger car. Passenger-car E-ZPass users will pay $2 and toll-by-plate, $5. The commission has no cash option.

• Starting Jan. 4, a 3% increase plus a 25-cent fee will take effect at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey crossings, including the George Washington Bridge and Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. Passenger-car drivers will pay $14.06 to $23.30 to enter Manhattan, depending on time of day and E-ZPass use. The Port Authority for 2026 has a budget of $10 billion, or 6% higher than the prior year. Of that, $4 billion is for capital projects.

The bridge, tunnel, and highway overseers have cited pressures including rising tariffs, construction, and labor costs. 

New Jersey Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio said state statute dictated the need for higher fuel charges.

“This dedicated funding stream continues to provide billions of dollars across the state to support our critical transportation infrastructure needs,” she said in a statement.

The Garden State Initiative, a conservative research group, said New Jersey could make better fiscal choices to prevent such increases.

“New Jersey residents are getting nickeled and dimed, as are small businesses,” Audrey Lane, president of Garden State Initiative, said in an interview. “What we really have to do is take a look at cutting spending.”

This information is courtesy of Adam Kimball of the New Jersey State House News Service.