The Millstone Times May 2020

AUTOMOTIVE Dancer resolution urges Murphy to reject proposed toll hikes While New Jersey residents deal with the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, plans to raise the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway tolls move ahead. “While hundreds of thousands of residents are out of jobs, this is not the time to add another financial stressor that the people of New Jersey just do not need," said Dancer (R-Ocean). "I have called on the governor to halt the toll hikes during this state of emergency. The focus needs to be on helping people affected by the coronavirus pandemic, not raising tolls when everyone is preoccupied with the virus.” Dancer’s resolution (AR152) urges the governor to reject toll increases proposed by New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which operates both the turnpike and the parkway. The agency decided to hold public meetings on the hikes despite the cancellation of other events, the coronavirus outbreak and stay- at-home orders that prevented anyone from attending. "Not only is increasing tolls at this time inappropriate, so is the lack of transparency and disregard for the public's input," said Dancer. The details of the increase show some big bites to drivers' wallets. Drivers using the New Jersey Turnpike face the biggest increase, 36 percent, while parkway drivers would see a 27 percent hike. A one-way parkway trip from Bergen County to Cape May would increase from $8.25 to $9.45. An end to end drive on the turnpike would cost $18.85 (currently $13.85) for cash or E-ZPass and $14.15 (currently $10.40) for off-peak E-ZPass. “Whether it’s $1.30 or five cents, raising the tolls during a state of emergency is wrong and is something that the decision makers need to reconsider," concluded Dancer. The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders also passed a resolution on March 4 urging the governor and the New Jersey Turn- pike Authority to reconsider their plan.

BMW Changes Its Logo After 23 Years By Lauren Kowlacki

BMW has updated its logo for the first time in 23 years, but the automaker is stopping short of making the change on its vehicles, it said in a recement media statement. The update, is for "online and offline communication purposes," the brand said, positioning its new look as "better-suited to the digital age."

The biggest change is that the thick outer ring in the circular logo went from a solid black to transpar- ent. So whatever color the logo is set against will appear in that portion. The logo design was also made simpler and flatter, a change from the slightly rounded look of the old logo, which made it look more three-dimensional. The automaker follows other brands, such as Volkswagen, that have gone to a flatter look for digital media reasons. "BMW is becoming a relationship brand. The new communication logo stands for openness and clarity," Jens Thiemer, BMW's head of brand manage- ment, said. The update is "geared to the challenges and opportunities of digitalization for brands," he said. "With visual restraint and graphic flexibility, we are equipping ourselves for the vast variety of touch points in communication at which BMW will be present, online and offline, in the future." It marks only the sixth time the logo has changed since 1917, when the brand was created from the renaming of Munich-based aircraft engine manufac- turer Rapp Motorenwerke, according to a history of the logo posted at BMW.com. BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works. The new logo keeps the checkered blue-and-white pattern at its center. Blue and white are the colors of the brand's home state of Bavaria in Germany. For years people interpreted the logo as a spinning propeller because that is how it was portrayed in a 1929 ad, the BMW website points out. But that interpretation is not true according to the site.

50 The Millstone Times

May 2020