The agency that operates toll roads in New Jersey will pay to train 100 new highway patrol officers in an effort to increase the number of law-enforcement personnel on the state's turnpikes, The Newark Star-Ledger reported Oct. 31.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which operates the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, told the newspaper it would dedicate $2.5 million to the effort. The agency has made a number of changes since Gov. James McGreevey signed legislation May 27 to merge the toll-road authorities that run the two roads.

The toll roads are 73 troopers short of the number the state considers necessary to patrol the highways, The Star-Ledger reported.