Is it true that anyone driving OUT of New Jersey has to pay a toll?

It is based on an old joke that has some basis in reality. The bridges in Philadelphia and New York are set up so you pay a toll in the morning and not in the evening. There used to be tolls each way, but they figured it would be cheaper to collect one toll that was twice as much as the original toll than to pay toll collectors to collect tolls both ways. So since the morning traffic leaves the suburbs (in both cases New Jersey) in the morning for the city (Philly or New York).

All of the other bridges over the Delaware River went to the same system as the bridges in Philadelphia for consistency. You pay leaving New Jersey and it's free to leave Pennsylvania. All of the toll bridges over the Hudson River you pay the toll going east.

There are exceptions. The bridge on I-95 between PA and NJ has no toll. Any of the roads that cross the northern border of New Jersey into New York are toll free as well.

Not everyone realizes this but New Jersey is actually a peninsula. Having said that, your friend is right and wrong. If you leave anywhere along the delaware river or via the NYC routes then you will most likely have to pay a toll, but I'm pretty sure that if you leave out of the northwest corridor of NJ, then there is no toll imposed on certain roads.

Not a tall tale. Many major roadways leaving the state of NJ, especially if your bound for NYC, require tolls.

I don't know about NJ, but when I was stationed on Treasure Island in SF Bay, the toll bridges were set up so that you had to pay to leave Oakland.

i live in pa...and yes you are right. we always joke about it because you can get in to the dirty jerz for free...but you have to pay to get out! haha.

X3