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New Jersey Tests Battery-Free E‑ZPass Stickers as Massachusetts Launches Statewide Rollout

A fleet pilot will determine whether New Jersey shifts from plastic transponders to cheaper, tamper‑evident windshield tags later in 2026.

Overview

  • New Jersey Turnpike Authority will pilot about 3,000 sticker tags on agency vehicles for roughly eight weeks starting in the spring, with planning cited around May.
  • If the trial performs well, officials say customer distribution could begin as early as late 2026, though no statewide switch has been decided.
  • The thin windshield tags use battery‑free microchips or barcodes read by toll gantries, and existing hard‑case transponders will continue to work during any transition.
  • MassDOT began issuing stickers on March 1, reporting a per‑unit cost of about $0.65 versus roughly $10 for hard‑case transponders, offering a regional benchmark.
  • NJ officials highlight tamper‑evident, non‑transferable stickers as a security upgrade, and note potential savings after spending $8.4 million in 2022 to replace failing transponder batteries.