TRENTON -- New Jersey transportation officials are considering the elimination the state's free roadside assistance program to replace it with a private company that would charge to change a tire or charge a battery. The Emergency Service Patrol has been in existence since 1994. Its team of 90 drivers operate Monday through Friday from 4 a.m. through 8:30 p.m.,...
New Jersey is considering ending its free roadside assistance program and moving to a privatized system. In this 1998 file photo, a car is towed on the Garden State Parkway.TRENTON -- New Jersey transportation officials are considering the elimination the state's free roadside assistance program to replace it with a private company that would charge to change a tire or charge a battery.
The Emergency Service Patrol has been in existence since 1994. Its team of 90 drivers operate Monday through Friday from 4 a.m. through 8:30 p.m., with some weekend hours in the Cherry Hill region.
The service was created to keep lanes clear and reduce congestion.
Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson says privatizing the service could free up as much as $12 million that the state gets annually from the federal government to run the program. Simpson says the DOT will do a cost-benefit analysis of the program.
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