I have riden it before, but when my parents were travelling between New Jersey (where I grew up) and Maine (where they retired). I was a kid then, but was well aware. There were also tolls wrt the Garden State Turnpike, aka New Jersey, as well as (I think it was the George Washington Bridge), albeit only heading in 1 direction.
Yes they suck, and worse when the politicians lie about it. In the case of the Garden State Parkway, they told the voters the tolls would only remain in place till the cost of buildign the road was payed off. They lied. The road has long since been payed off, but the tolls have remained and don't ever look to be taken down. Due to this, the voters naturally aren't so ready to trust the state government when they say "it will only be temporary" wrt making money, and as such tell them to forget it every time such a proposal is made again.
Course, with politicans and the government, once they get used to any revenue stream, would they ever really get rid of it, even if they promised when it came up to a vote? Not really...