Suggestion for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority!

HEY YOU GU-U-U-U-YS!

The signs for the Masssachusetts and Delaware tolls are simple, concise and informative enough... in other words, looking good! But the south end of the Jersey Turnpike is a completely different story.

Source: pixelmap.com.

I mean, LOOK at all this crap! Just look at it!

You have a small sign over the high speed lane bearing the message, "E-ZPass EXPRESS LANES" with an electronic screen, supposedly indicating when the lanes are closed. (And why do you need to close the E-ZPass lanes anyway? Just have a spare lane like normal turnpikes!)

The other sign over the right travel and breakdown lanes is just overcrowded with a lot of messages, which makes it very difficult to read at 65, 70 miles an hour. Six lines of text on the left, five on the right. And some of those messages are unnecessary! (Such as if it's a toll tags only lane, you don't need the additional "NO CASH" message. And the "REDUCE SPEED" is also unnecessary; the drivers know there's a toll plaza coming up, they have to reduce speed! Except in the toll tags only lanes, of course -- those guys can speed right through. And even with the "NO CASH" message, it's hard to tell if cash is not accepted in the right travel lane and very impossible to tell is cash is not accepted in the high speed lane.

And that's without the distraction of the flashing yellow lights.  I wonder if drivers have rear-ended others while trying to decipher this sign, HAHAHA.

Maybe the NJTA should consider extending the auxiliary turnoff lane back to this sign if rear-end collisions are a problem.

Well I've come up with a better one, based on my "E-ZPass TAGS ONLY" sign in the previous post. First, I merged two signs into one for two lanes restricted to toll tags only.

Voila! Simple enough, Jerseyites?  It's bottom message, "TAGS ONLY" in regulatory black-and-white for each lane clearly indicate that cash is not allowed.  This can be installed on the sign bridge that's off in the distance.

Now for the replacement sign on the immediately near sign bridge:

Now this sign, suspended over both travel lanes and breakdown lane gets the message across for both toll tag holders and cash toll payers much more quickly than all that illegibly small and crowded stuff the NJTA put on their sign.  Everything is simple and concise. The cash toll payers are instructed to bear right, while the toll tag holders can breeze on through. (And the word "THROUGH" is spelled correctly, too.)

But if you think you need the "NO CASH" message for each toll tag lane, just get rid of "ALL LANES THROUGH" and scoot up the "E-ZPass" and "CASH" messages to make room for "NO CASH" in the regulatory black-and-white field directly under each "E-ZPass."

Now back to the far sign bridge, here's my design for the cash toll lanes guide sign on the right:

This is simple enough, too. Only three lines of text and two turnoff arrows, one over each lane.

Now for the big enchilada... how it will look like in real life.

Ta-da!