Tolls on Taxi Trips Outside NYC: Westchester, Nassau, NJ

In short: When a yellow taxi or green cab trip leaves New York City, the passenger pays all necessary tolls to and from the destination, including your tolls coming back. That is true for Westchester, Nassau, Newark Airport and every flat-fare destination. Before you start you must explain how the fare and tolls work. One exception: a trip that starts and ends inside the city is never an out-of-city trip, even if the route briefly leaves it.

How the fare itself is calculated (double meter, $20 Newark surcharge, flat rate) is explained in taxi trips outside NYC. This guide is about the tolls.

The toll rule for each out-of-city trip

The words "to and from" are the key. §80-17(f)(2)(iv) and (f)(3)(iii) say the passenger "is also responsible for all necessary tolls charged for both going to the destination and for the Driver's return to the City." TLC's fare page lists Westchester, Nassau and Newark as trips where passengers pay "the tolls to and from a destination" (TLC taxi fare).

Is it really an out-of-city trip?

The continuous-trip rule is easy to miss. §58-26(c)(4): "Any continuous trip where the point of origin and the destination are both within the limits of the City of New York will not be considered a trip beyond the City limits, even though the shortest and most direct route requires traveling outside the City limits." On those trips you charge the normal meter and only the tolls of the trip.

What you must say before you start

In every case the taximeter must record during the trip; not doing so is a $100 fine. Long-form rule pages: §80-17(f)(2) and §80-17(f)(1).

Toll rates on the way out of the city

Going north and east, these are the MTA tolls you are most likely to meet inside the city on the way out. The passenger pays each crossing you use going to the destination. The return part of the rule covers tolls "for the Driver's return to the City" (§80-17(f)(2)(iv)). On a Westchester or Nassau trip you come back into the city in the Bronx or Queens, and that usually needs no toll, so an MTA crossing back to where you started is not clearly covered. If your way back into the city does need a toll, the passenger owes it.

North of the city line, the New York State Thruway has toll gantries at Yonkers ($1.25 standard NY E-ZPass) and New Rochelle ($1.74 standard NY E-ZPass), as listed on the Thruway discount plans page on October 12, 2026. Details: Thruway tolls near NYC. Westward, Port Authority crossings charge only entering New York ($14.79 off-peak, $16.79 peak with NY/NJ E-ZPass): are there tolls going to New Jersey?

Worked examples

These use E-ZPass amounts. The passenger pays the actual amount charged to your tag (§58-26(e)(3)), and charging more is an overcharge (§58-26(f)(3)). Newark routes in full: Newark Airport tolls by route.

Collecting tolls you haven't paid yet

The hard part of the "to and from" rule is that you collect the return tolls before you drive them. A few habits keep this honest and easy to defend:

• Use the E-ZPass price for your tag. The passenger owes "the actual amount (often a discounted toll) charged to the EZ-Pass" (§58-26(e)(3)). With a New York tag that is $7.46 at the large MTA crossings, not the $12.03 mail rate.
• Use the time you will cross back. Port Authority crossings cost $14.79 off-peak and $16.79 at peak (weekdays 6–10 a.m. and 4–8 p.m., weekends 11 a.m.–9 p.m.). MTA prices do not change by time of day.
• Charge the tolls that are necessary. The rule covers "necessary" tolls going to the destination and for your return "to the City". On a Newark or other New Jersey trip that is the Port Authority toll back into New York. Be ready to explain each number.
• Show it on the receipt. The receipt lists tolls separately from the fare and surcharges, so the passenger can see what they paid for.

If you are not sure of a toll amount, tell the passenger before the trip and agree on it. A dispute after a long out-of-city trip is harder to settle than a short conversation at the start.

Where the toll money goes

Who keeps the toll money depends on whose E-ZPass paid. If you use your own tag, you keep the toll money the passenger pays, or you are reimbursed when they pay by card (§58-27(c)). If the owner's tag paid, the toll money belongs to the owner, and you must forward it at the end of your shift or lease (§58-27(d); §80-15(d)(4)). Not forwarding it is a $50 fine plus restitution to the tag holder, and you must appear at the hearing. On a long trip with tolls both ways, that can be a large amount, so write it down. More: E-ZPass replenishment account in a lease.

Tolls by Mail outside the city

The Thruway, like the MTA and Port Authority, is cashless. The Thruway says "license plate transactions receive the Tolls by Mail rate," and that E-ZPass NY customers "can save up to 75 percent" (Thruway cashless tolling). A cab without a working tag pays more on every out-of-city toll, and TLC rules require an E-ZPass in every taxi, FHV and green cab you drive for hire (§80-15(d)(1)). Keep the tag mounted and the plate on the account.

FHV and app trips

• Livery, black car, luxury limousine and other FHVs: the passenger "must pay all necessary tolls to and from the destination" on trips beyond the city (§59A-23(b)(2)). The fare is the base's, not the taxi double-meter rule.
• Uber and Lyft: the company "must remit to the Driver the entirety of any toll paid by the Driver during a dispatched trip" (§59D-17(c)). The drive back after an out-of-city drop-off is not a dispatched trip, and TLC rules don't say whether the company covers it. Check the app's toll policy before you accept long trips that end across a tolled crossing.

Related pages

Taxi trips outside NYC (fares) · NJ Turnpike tolls · Holland Tunnel · Bronx · Tolls hub