Electronic Tolls Do a Lot More Than Speed You on Your Way

Electronic toll collection has such a powerful effect in cutting highway traffic congestion, and therefore vehicle emissions and air pollution, that it leads to reductions in premature births and low birth weights, say Janet Currie and Reed Walker of Columbia University. Introduction of the E-ZPass system in New Jersey reduced prematurity and low birth weight among mothers within 2 kilometers of a toll plaza by 10.8% and 11.8%, respectively, in comparison with births to mothers near traditional toll plazas. Carbon monoxide, an important component of engine exhaust, has been implicated in negative birth outcomes.