NEW YORK (AFX) - Thousands of New Jersey motorists will drive past the Geico gecko next week on their way to New York City, part of a new campaign to trade prime ad space for transit security funds.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area transit hubs, has sold space on road signs and on the George Washington Bridge toll plaza to the insurance chain, one of three new deals with corporate sponsors to boost revenue.

The two-year, $1.6 million-a-year contract with Geico will help the agency defray other costs, including projected spending to boost security at its airports, bridges, tunnels and commuter rail lines, spokesman John McCarthy said Wednesday.

The agency started seeking various advertising contracts over the past year; last month, Samsung began advertising on new power poles where travelers can recharge laptops and other electronic devices at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

At the George Washington Bridge, commuters will see the Web site address for Geico and the message 'Drive Safely' on signs approaching the Fort Lee, N.J., toll plaza. Geico signs also will be posted above the plaza, and the insurance chain's famous Gecko lizard character will be plastered on signs near cashiers' windows.

About 54 million cars traveled eastbound on the GWB in 2005, the agency says.

A spokesman for Geico, based in Chevy Chase, Md., didn't return a telephone message Wednesday.

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