Mr. Florio first suggested eliminating tolls on the Garden State Parkway when he was a candidate for governor in 1989.

That's why, if you are governor for a season, eliminating tolls for a day is such an attractive gesture.

But the committee took up the question of eliminating tolls on both roads, and the price tag quickly became apparent.

Yet eliminating tolls would also save a considerable sum of money.

Other accomplishments of Willis's administration included eliminating tolls on twelve of the state's thirteen major bridges and expanding programs for dependent children and the elderly.

He also said he would introduce legislation to form a committee to study the possibility of eliminating tolls on the 173-mile parkway.

Several accidents prompted the state to eliminate tolls along the turnpike altogether.

One school of thought holds that eliminating tolls might cut congestion.

Later, Mr. Schundler suggested that his plan to eliminate tolls on the Garden State Parkway might reduce road rage.

The $322 million would also go toward eliminating tolls on bridges to the Rockaways, restoring cuts to libraries and putting a nurse in every middle school.