The Return-Toll Rule: Verrazzano & Rockaway Bridges

In short: On a TLC trip into Staten Island over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, or into the Rockaway Peninsula over the Cross Bay or Marine Parkway bridge, the passenger pays two times the toll. On a trip out of those places over the same bridge, the passenger pays nothing for that crossing. This has been the rule for taxis, green cabs and for-hire vehicles since November 29, 2023. Charging the double toll in the wrong direction is an overcharge.

The reason is simple: these three bridges charge a toll in both directions, and there is no free way back. The rider who sends you onto the island pays for your way off it. The rider who leaves the island doesn't pay a second time.

The old rule and the new rule

Before the change, TLC rules said the passenger paid "all tolls incurred driving to the passenger's destination" and "no tolls for the Driver's return trip", except on the two Rockaway bridges. The Verrazzano was not on that list. So a driver who took a rider from Brooklyn to Staten Island got one toll back and paid the second one, to come home, from their own pocket.

The 2023 Notice of Promulgation replaced that wording. TLC published the proposal on July 10, 2023, held a public hearing on August 9, 2023, adopted the rule on October 18, 2023, and it took effect on November 29, 2023.

The direction table

The new rule doesn't talk about "to" and "return" any more. It names each crossing and direction. Here is every case, with the amount at today's NY E-ZPass car rate. Your passenger pays the amount actually charged to your tag, so if your tag was charged a different amount, use that.

Rates are MTA car tolls effective January 4, 2026, as listed in our rate file on 2026-10-12. The full card for these three bridges:

Every other toll inside the city works the normal way: the passenger pays it once, at the E-ZPass amount. So a rider from Manhattan through the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and over the Verrazzano to Staten Island pays the tunnel toll once and the Verrazzano toll two times. The rule text describes the crossing ("from Brooklyn over the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge to Staten Island"), not where the trip began, and TLC's own example speaks of a passenger who "enters Staten Island by taking the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge".

Trips that leave the city follow a different rule: the passenger pays "all necessary tolls to and from the destination" (§58-26(f)(2)). A Staten Island trip into New Jersey over the Goethals Bridge is an out-of-city trip, not a return-toll case. See tolls on trips outside NYC.

Check a trip

Why TLC made the change

The statement of basis gives two reasons.

1. Two-way tolling. The Verrazzano has charged a toll in both directions since December 2020 ("split tolling"). In TLC's words, "There is no way to return from Staten Island to the other four boroughs without again crossing the Verrazzano, just as there is no way to return from the Rockaway Peninsula" without paying again. So the Verrazzano joined the two Rockaway bridges.
2. No double charge for people leaving. After the hearing, TLC also decided that "passengers leaving Staten Island or the Rockaway Peninsula do not have to pay the toll from either of those areas", so residents and visitors "are not overcharged". This was new: under the old rule, a rider leaving the Rockaways paid the toll.

The public comments show the driver side. One commenter wrote that "the driver is penalized twice": the passenger paid the toll one way and the driver paid the return toll. Another commenter asked whether a driver would be paid twice if a second rider also paid on the way back. The final rule answers both points: the rider going in pays two tolls, and the rider coming out pays none.

Who the rule covers

The same text was put into three chapters:

• Yellow taxis: §58-26(f)(1).
• For-hire vehicles (black car, livery, luxury limousine): §59A-23(b)(1).
• Green cabs (street hail liveries): §82-26(g)(1).

App trips: the company sets the price

On Uber and Lyft trips you don't charge the rider yourself; the app does. Uber's rider help page (company policy, not a TLC rule) says: "If your driver must pay a toll to return after your trip ends, that return toll may be included in your upfront price."

TLC's trip records show what happened on these routes. We counted trips from March to August 2026, after the January 2026 rate change:

For app trips into Staten Island, the recorded toll is almost always exactly twice the E-ZPass rate. Records don't show how that amount was split between rider, driver and company, so check your own fare breakdown. If a toll you paid during a trip is missing, see Uber or Lyft didn't pay my toll. The return drive after the trip ends is a different question, covered in tolls on the way to a pickup.

Some app drivers still want more. A Justice for App Workers petition to TLC cites a "$13.88 daily toll" for the Verrazzano and asks TLC to "reimburse all tolls incurred during professional duties". $13.88 is twice $6.94, the toll amount most often recorded in late-2025 trip records. It showed 101 signatures when we checked on October 12, 2026. A petition is a request, not a rule.

The overcharge risk

Under §58-26(f)(3), a driver who charges more than the actual E-ZPass toll is "guilty of an overcharge as prohibited by §80-17". That brings the mandatory overcharge penalties in §80-02(e): $350 if you plead guilty before a hearing, $500 if found guilty after one for a first violation, with higher fines and possible suspension or revocation for repeats. An overcharge of $10 or more leads to license revocation.

The risky mistakes on these bridges:

• Adding the double toll on a trip leaving Staten Island or the Rockaways (the passenger owes $0 for that crossing).
• Adding the toll for a crossing the trip never made.
• Using the Tolls by Mail amount instead of the E-ZPass amount (see can I charge the full toll rate?).

More examples are in toll mistakes that become overcharge summonses. For the full taxi toll rules beyond these three bridges, read who pays tolls on a taxi trip.

Timeline

Local pages: Staten Island, Brooklyn, and the bridge pages for the Verrazzano-Narrows, Cross Bay and Marine Parkway. If you live on Staten Island, see the resident discount question. The Staten Island Bridges Plan is a Port Authority discount and has nothing to do with the Verrazzano. All toll pages: Tolls topic.

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