A South Jersey man’s attempt to pay a 70-cent Parkway fare with a token he bought for 35 cents was shot down in court yesterday. The Press of Atlantic City has the scoop.
Theodore T. Harris’s argument was that the token, which he bought prior to a restructuring of the roadway’s fare system, carries no face value other than that it is good for one fare, and that he shouldn’t have to use two tokens to satisfy the new, higher toll. Under a prior fare hike, from 25 cent to 35 cents, the Parkway Authority didn’t require motorists to toss in an additional dime with their old tokens, his lawyer added.
Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten in Cape May Court House rejected Harris’ reasoning, and found him guilty of trying to beat the new fare. He upheld fines of $27 for each of two January citations.
“I have no choice to but to adjudicate the defendant as guilty of each charge in these two summonses. He willingly refused to satisfy the toll requirement northbound at milepost 19 on Jan. 23 and Jan. 16. He did violate the toll. He’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Batten said.
This was Harris’ second try with the argument; he’d been rejected earlier by a municipal court judge. He says he may appeal again.
The tokens haven’t been sold since 2001, but Harris’ lawyer says there are 15 million still in circulation. Harris has 46 of them.
