Dec 13, 2004 2:06 pm US/Eastern

(1010 WINS) (NEWARK) Five years, $411 million and much aggravation later, the lines are finally shorter at New Jersey's auto inspection stations.

The new emissions testing program caused many problems when it started in 1999, including computer malfunctions, machinery that froze, inadequate staffing and irate motorists.

It also was bedeviled by high costs and three investigations, including one by the State Commission of Investigation that called the project a "mammoth boondoggle."

But nowadays New Jersey and the system's operator, Parsons Advanced Technologies Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., have drastically shortened waiting lines at the state's 31 inspection stations.

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