No gas tax hike means more holiday drivers on NJ roads

TRENTON, N.J. (WTXF/AP) - It's not costing you as much as expected to drive through the Garden State, whether you live there or are just passing through. That meant seeing more folks on the road.

No gas tax vote had folks rethinking their Independence Day holiday travel plans. Many more drivers headed to family events or weekend getaways, trips they may have missed out on due to the fear of higher prices at the pumps.

But the proposed 23-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax hike fell through Thursday when the Democratic-led state Senate scrapped any votes on Republican Gov. Chris Christie's plan to hike the gas tax while cutting the sales tax from 7 percent to 6 percent over nearly two years.

It was part of a deal Christie had reached with Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto. The proposal had passed Tuesday in the Democrat-led Assembly.