Installing E-Z Pass on Ocean Drive Bridges Not So Easy, Price Increase Delayed

Not so fast with E-Z Pass on Cape May County's Ocean Drive bridges.

The Cape May County Bridge Commission had hoped to install the E-Z Pass toll collection system on all five of the Ocean Drive bridges by this summer. Simultaneously, the bridge commission planned a $1 seasonal toll increase.

But the Commission announced Wednesday that the system would not be ready for implementation by June 1 and would instead be installed in phases over the next five months. The toll increase has also been put on hold until after the summer.

Presently drivers pay $1.50 one-way on the bridges.

It would have been “unnecessarily complicated, confusing, and burdensome to bridge customers” to change the tolling structure midsummer, the commission’s statement said.

A public hearing scheduled for April 27 to discuss a possible toll increase has been cancelled and will be rescheduled in the fall, the commission said.

The bridges in the Ocean Drive system run south from Ocean City to Grassy Sound near Wildwood, connecting Cape May County’s barrier islands.