Driving to Atlantic City Could Compromise Your E-ZPass Data After China-Linked Firm Secures Contract

Posted on: February 7, 2025, 02:37h. 

Last updated on: February 7, 2025, 02:41h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Driving to Atlantic City from Philadelphia or parts of New Jersey could soon come with risks to drivers’ data falling into the hands of foreign businesses and governments, including China.

Driving Atlantic City New Jersey E-ZPass
The Ashbury Park Toll Plaza and E-ZPass lanes are seen on Aug. 1, 2022. New Jersey has contracted a tolling firm with links to China to handle its operations for the next 11 years, which includes the Atlantic City Expressway. (Image: Shutterstock)

In September, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority awarded TransCore, LP, an 11-year contract to administer the state’s E-ZPass system. TransCore’s bid of $1,730,747,010 for the 11-year operation was picked over a $1.5 billion proposal from Newark-based Conduent, Inc., which has managed the toll system for more than two decades.

Driving to the nine casinos in Atlantic City from almost everywhere north, south, and west requires vehicles to pay a toll whether it be on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, or Atlantic City Expressway, the latter of which connects the beachfront casino town with Philadelphia.

To drive from Philly to Atlantic City, a basic automobile is charged $1.45 at the Pleasantville Toll Plaza and $4.85 at Egg Harbor for a one-way total of $6.30.

China Concerns

TransCore is a subsidiary of ST Engineering, a Singapore conglomerate controlled by the sovereign city-state. ST, however, has close ties to China.

As the New York Post first reported, Fu Chengyu was a longtime board member at Temasek Holdings, the parent entity to ST Engineering. Temasek is the Singapore government’s fully owned multinational investment arm. Fu is the chairman of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., the world’s largest oil refining conglomerate. China Petroleum and Chemical is owned by the People’s Republic of China and is operated “for the benefit” of China.

Fu recently resigned from Temasek amid allegations raised by Conduent that his involvement in the enterprise poses national security risks. Since TransCore will be handling millions of vehicle data on U.S. drivers, including their E-ZPass payment information, Conduent officials argue the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s awarding the company the toll contract threatens America.

Along with banking and credit card information, opposition to the TransCore deal worries that China could monitor the activities of military vehicles, government officials, and other sensitive travel throughout New Jersey. New Jersey’s former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D) agrees.

I don’t understand why this hasn’t gotten a lot, frankly, a lot more attention,” Torricelli told Fox Business. “I would rather the Chinese knew what I was watching on TikTok than have the Chinese monitoring my car going up and down the New Jersey Turnpike.”

The NJ Turnpike is a heavily traveled highway and major artery linking New York City to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

“There has to be some national security concern here,” the former senator added. “If we ever got to a point of high tension with the Chinese, they would be monitoring our most important internal transportation.”

Torricelli added that it’s “inconceivable” that China would allow an American company to have “access to the internal travel of Chinese government officials and sensitive information and goods.”

Atlantic City Safety 

Current New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew, a U.S. House Republican representing the state’s 2nd congressional district, which includes Atlantic County and Atlantic City, also expressed hesitation to allowing a China-linked firm to run the Garden State’s toll system.

“America’s security must always come first,” Van Drew said.

New Jersey State Sen. Michael Testa, a Republican repping Atlantic County in Trenton, said the TransCore award “boggles my mind.”

I will be speaking with my team to weigh legislative options in Trenton to ensure this is never allowed to occur again. We must keep New Jerseyans’ data and privacy safe from the [Chinese Communist Party] and any foreign adversary.”

TransCore defended the contract by saying all of its tolling products used in the United States are American-made and that the company has strict compliance agreements in place with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury.

The Atlantic City Expressway handles about 65K vehicles a day, though numbers increase greatly in the warmer months. The NJ Turnpike and Garden State Expressway handle more than a million daily vehicles and over 400 million annual toll transactions.