LaGuardia to Manhattan: Tolls by Route

In short: A yellow taxi from LaGuardia to Manhattan runs on the meter, plus a $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge, plus the $2.00 airport access fee for a pick-up, plus the usual surcharges and tolls. Over the RFK Bridge or through the Queens Midtown Tunnel the toll is $7.46 with a New York E-ZPass. The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge is free. The passenger pays the toll, at the amount your E-ZPass was actually charged.

Three ways into Manhattan

MTA rates took effect January 4, 2026 and are the same at any hour (MTA). A tag that is not from the New York E-ZPass Customer Service Center pays the Tolls by Mail rate, $12.03; a New York tag that is not read pays Mid-Tier, $9.79. The Queensboro Bridge is one of the four East River bridges run by NYC DOT, and DOT says: "There are no tolls on bridges operated by NYC DOT" (NYC DOT bridges).

Every line on a LaGuardia taxi receipt

TLC lists these charges for LaGuardia trips (TLC taxi fare; §58-26(a)):

Example add-ons: a weekday 5 p.m. pick-up at LaGuardia going to Midtown through the Queens Midtown Tunnel adds $21.71 to the meter: $5.00 + $2.00 + $0.50 + $1.00 + $2.50 + $2.50 + $0.75 + $7.46. Over the Queensboro Bridge the add-ons are $14.25. The meter itself depends on distance and traffic, so it is not shown here. Going to LaGuardia, leave out the $2.00 access fee: the Port Authority's taxi fee is for pick-ups (approved fee changes). For a whole-fare estimate see how much is a taxi from LaGuardia to Manhattan.

Route choice

On a metered trip the route changes two things: the meter and the toll. TLC rules say you must take the shortest reasonable route unless the passenger asks for another one, and follow reasonable routing requests (§80-16(a)). The passenger pays the toll on any route they choose or that is the shortest reasonable route. Taking a longer route to run up the meter is an overcharge risk. The full rule: toll bridge or free route with a passenger?

Step by step at drop-off

Uber and Lyft from LaGuardia

App trips are not metered taxi fares, so the LGA $5.00 surcharge and the $0.75 taxi zone charge are not the app lines. What applies:

• Toll: included in the passenger's fare, and the company must remit to you "the entirety of any toll paid by the Driver during a dispatched trip" (§59D-17(c)).
• Airport access fee: the Port Authority's for-hire vehicle fee is $3.50 for pick-ups and drop-offs since March 15, 2026. It is approved to rise to $4.50 on March 15, 2027 and $5.00 on March 15, 2028.
• MTA congestion charge: $1.50 per trip to, from, within or through the zone (TBTA CBD schedule).

Who pays the toll, by license type

On a trip that starts and ends inside New York City, the rule is the same for every TLC license: the passenger pays the tolls of the trip, and only the amount actually charged to the E-ZPass.

• Yellow taxi: "Passengers must pay for the toll, but are only required to pay the actual amount (often a discounted toll) charged to the EZ-Pass" (§58-26(e)(3)). TLC's fare page adds: "Discounted E-ZPass tolls will be added to the passenger fare at the end of the trip."
• Green cab: the same toll rule applies to Street Hail Liveries (§82-26). Whether a green cab may pick up at the airport is a separate question: can green cabs pick up at JFK or LaGuardia?
• Livery, black car and other FHVs: the passenger pays "all tolls incurred during the trip" (§59A-23(b)(1)).
• Uber and Lyft: the toll is in the passenger's fare, and the company must repay you every toll you paid during the dispatched trip (§59D-17(c)).

None of the three exceptions in the in-city rule (trips leaving Staten Island or the Rockaways) touch a LaGuardia–Manhattan trip, so there is never a "double toll" and never a return toll on these trips. You pay your own toll if you come back to Queens empty.

Keep the toll at $7.46

The $7.46 price needs two things: a tag from the New York E-ZPass Customer Service Center, and a tag that the gantry reads. If you drive with a New Jersey tag, the MTA charges it $12.03 at the RFK and the tunnel. If a New York tag is loose, in the glove box or blocked, the crossing is charged by plate at Mid-Tier, $9.79, and you only find out on the statement. The passenger is never required to pay more than what was actually charged, and charging a higher "standard" toll is an overcharge (§58-26(f)(3)). The simplest fix is a New York tag mounted the way the MTA instructs. More: why did I get a toll bill with E-ZPass?

Trips from LaGuardia that don't go to Manhattan

The $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge and the $2.00 pick-up fee apply to every taxi trip from LGA, wherever it goes. Tolls apply only if the route crosses a tolled bridge or tunnel. To the Bronx, the RFK and the Bronx-Whitestone both cost $7.46 with a New York E-ZPass. The congestion charges apply only if the trip touches Manhattan below 96th Street ($2.50) or at or below 60th Street ($0.75).

How often LaGuardia–Manhattan trips pay a toll

We counted TLC trip records between the LaGuardia taxi zone and Manhattan zones, pick-ups from January 4 to August 31, 2026, with our standard clean-trip filters (TLC trip record data).

Four in five yellow taxi trips recorded a $7.46 toll. App trips recorded no toll more often (32.0%). The records show amounts, not routes, so this does not tell you which crossing was used.

Related pages

JFK to Manhattan tolls · Newark Airport tolls by route · NJ Turnpike tolls · RFK Bridge · Queens Midtown Tunnel · Tolls hub