How Tolls Appear on the Taxi Meter and Receipt

In short: In a yellow taxi or green cab, tolls are added to the fare at the end of the trip, at the discounted E-ZPass amount, and they must be listed as their own line on the receipt. The meter's rate message tells the rider which fare applies (standard, JFK, Newark, Westchester/Nassau or negotiated). If the receipt shows a toll higher than your E-ZPass paid, or a toll you didn't pay, that is an overcharge.

This page is about the meter and the receipt. Which tolls the passenger owes is covered in who pays tolls on a taxi trip.

What TLC tells passengers

TLC's Taxi Fare page is what riders read, so your meter and receipt should match it. On tolls it says:

• "Drivers must use an E-ZPass when taking a toll bridge or tunnel. Discounted E-ZPass tolls will be added to the passenger fare at the end of the trip."
• The standard metered fare and JFK entries end with "Plus tips and any tolls."; the Newark entry says "Plus tip and tolls".
• Passengers pay tolls to and from a destination for Westchester and Nassau, trips over the Verrazzano, Cross Bay and Marine Parkway bridges, and Newark Airport. (On those three bridges the rule depends on direction: 2× going in, nothing coming out. See the return-toll rule.)
• For Newark: "passengers are charged for the drivers' return tolls".
• "Make sure to always take your receipt."

The rate message on the meter

TLC's fare page lists the message riders should see for each fare. Tolls are added on top of every one of them.

How these rate codes show up in TLC's trip records over 12 months:

What the receipt must show

At the end of a taxi trip or a green cab hail trip, you must offer a receipt, and give one if the rider asks, in person or through the Technology System (§80-16(d)). The receipt must state:

Penalty for breaking the receipt rule: $50 if you plead guilty before a hearing or $75 after, 1 point, appearance not required. The rule is §80-16(d) of the chapter 80 rule book.

Behind the receipt, the taxi's trip record must hold "The itemized metered fare for the trip (fare, tolls, surcharge, and tip, if paid by credit or debit card)" (§58-22(a)(9)). That record is also what TLC's public data shows as tolls_amount: "Total amount of all tolls paid in trip."

An example receipt with tolls

Say a rider takes a yellow taxi on a weekday at 6 p.m. from Lower Manhattan, through the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, to Staten Island. On top of the metered fare, the receipt should show:

• Tolls: $22.38. The tunnel once ($7.46) and the Verrazzano two times ($14.92), because the trip goes from Brooklyn over the bridge into Staten Island. These are the NY E-ZPass car rates effective January 4, 2026.
• Surcharges: $0.50 MTA State Surcharge, $1.00 Improvement Surcharge, $2.50 rush hour surcharge, $2.50 NYS congestion surcharge (the trip starts below 96th Street) and $0.75 MTA congestion charge (it starts inside the Congestion Relief Zone).
• Tip, if paid by card.

If the same rider went the other way, from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan, the Verrazzano line would be $0, because riders leaving Staten Island pay no toll for that crossing, and the tunnel toll would appear once. The rush hour amount depends on the start time, and the surcharge amounts come from TLC's fare page as of October 12, 2026.

Tolls are not the congestion charge

Riders often see several Manhattan charges and call them all "tolls". They are different lines:

• Bridge and tunnel tolls: the E-ZPass amount, only when you crossed one.
• MTA Congestion Relief Zone charge: $0.75 per taxi or green cab trip to, from, within or through Manhattan at or below 60th Street. TLC Industry Notice #24-10 says: "For taxis and SHLs, the per-trip charge must be added to the meter."
• NYS congestion surcharge: $2.50 yellow taxi, $2.75 green cab, $0.75 shared ride, for trips that begin, end or pass through Manhattan south of 96th Street.

Every fare item is explained in NYC taxi fare: every surcharge, and how they add up in the data is in taxi fare components. For pay statements, see congestion charges on pay statements.

Card and e-hail payments

When the rider pays electronically, the same limits apply:

• "The payment for the fare for any trip paid for using an E-Payment must not exceed Commission-approved rates, plus an optional tip" (§58-26(i)(1); green cabs §82-26(i)(1)).
• The fare "must be calculated by the Taximeter and not by any other method, unless it is a Flex Fare trip".
• "Manual input of the fare by the Driver or any other person into the E-Hail Application is not permitted."
• For green cabs, breaking (1) or (2) "is an overcharge under section 80-17(a)(1)", with a $350 / $500 fine (§82-26(i)).

With an upfront e-hail quote, the meter isn't on. TLC's fare page tells riders the upfront quote should include all charges, but the fare may change if they change the destination or if there are unexpected tolls or taxes.

Step by step on a tolled trip

Mistakes that cost drivers money or points

• No receipt offered: $50–$75 and 1 point.
• Toll above the E-ZPass amount, or a toll you didn't pay: overcharge, $350–$500 for a first violation; $10 or more over means revocation. See toll overcharge mistakes.
• Typing a fare into an e-hail app: not permitted; for green cabs it is treated as an overcharge.
• Forgetting the out-of-city explanation: $25 under §80-17(f)(2) or (f)(3).
• Keeping the owner's toll money: $50 plus restitution under §80-15(d)(4).

Thinking about which industry to drive in? Compare yellow taxi vs Uber. Newark trips: do taxis have to go to Newark Airport? and the Newark Airport page. All toll pages: Tolls.

This page explains TLC rules. It is not legal advice.