New Jersey residents overwhelmingly prefer having gas station attendants fill fuel tanks over getting out to do it themselves, according to Rutgers-Eagleton poll released Thursday as legislators consider a new push to end the state’s longstanding ban on self-serve gasoline.
A whopping 73% of New Jerseyans surveyed say they’d rather not pump gas themselves, while 22% said they preferred self-service — a 3-to-1 margin. Another 5% of those polled were unable to choose between the two options.
A bipartisan bill introduced in the New Jersey Legislature last month would end the state’s 73-year ban on self-service gas, allowing stations to offer full-serve, self-serve, or a combination.
Stations with more than four pumps would be required to keep a full-serve option from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. But there would be no requirement to keep attendants at smaller stations or during other operating hours.
This is the latest in a long line of efforts to drop the self-serve ban, all of which have failed so far.
The measure would need to pass the full state Senate and Assembly before Gov. Phil Murphy could decide whether to sign it into law or veto it.
Murphy last week didn’t say whether he would sign the bill, but for the first time didn’t dismiss the idea of allowing self-serve.
“That’s been sort of a political third rail in New Jersey, which I have historically not crossed,” Murphy said when asked about the proposal during his final coronavirus briefing. “I will say more broadly, we’re committed to finding any way we can … make this state more affordable.”
The Rutgers-Eagleton poll did not specifically ask about the bill. The poll questions focused on preferences of drivers and did not ask if they’d like self-service as an option.
“There is apparently one thing all New Jerseyans can agree on nowadays and that’s the time-honored Jersey tradition of having your gas pumped for you,” Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling director Ashley Koning said in a statement. “But let’s also remember that this single survey question does not reflect the full debate and complexities of the moment that include a global pandemic, an employment crisis, and now an oil crisis. A large majority wants full service in the Garden State, but this preference does not mean automatic opposition to a self-serve option.”
About 87% of women polled prefer to have their gas pumped for them compared to 55% of men. The differences were less stark along income and political lines.
The poll of 1,044 adults was taken between Feb. 25 and March 4 just prior to the recent major spike in gas prices that sent the average price for regular over $4 a gallon in New Jersey. The current statewide average is $4.38 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com
Prices have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prices typically rise this time of year anyway because of the seasonal switch from winter blend to summer gas.
Proponents of the bill said ending New Jersey’s ban on self-serve could save drivers up to 15 cents a gallon and is necessary because of a staffing shortage at stations.
Opponents say there’s no guarantee stations would pass on savings to customers and ending the ban would eliminate thousands of jobs.
NJ Advance Media staff writers Larry Higgs and Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com