Who Pays Tolls on a NYC Taxi or Green Cab Trip?

In short: In a yellow taxi or a green cab, the passenger pays the tolls, but only the actual amount charged to the cab's E-ZPass. The amount is added to the fare at the end of the trip. Inside NYC the passenger pays each toll once, with two exceptions by direction (Staten Island and the Rockaways). On trips outside the city (Newark Airport, Westchester, Nassau and beyond) the passenger also pays your return tolls. If you charge more than the E-ZPass amount, that is an overcharge.

This page is the full rule for taxis and street hail liveries (green cabs). App trips work differently: see tolls on Uber and Lyft trips.

The rule in four lines

TLC's taxi chapter, §58-26(e), says:

1. Every taxi must have a New York MTA Bridges & Tunnels E-ZPass.
2. At a toll, the toll is taken from the account of the E-ZPass tag holder (the owner, or you if you use your own tag).
3. "Passengers must pay for the toll, but are only required to pay the actual amount (often a discounted toll) charged to the EZ-Pass."
4. "Drivers must collect the proper toll amount from the passenger and forward it to the holder of the EZ-Pass tag."

The green cab chapter has the same four lines in §82-26(f). TLC's Taxi Fare page tells riders the same thing: "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." How that looks on the meter and receipt is explained in how tolls appear on the taxi meter.

Which tolls the passenger pays

Inside the city

The passenger pays "all tolls incurred during the trip" (§58-26(f)(1)). There is no return toll on most crossings. TLC's 2023 statement of basis explains when a return toll is fair: when there is "no way to return" without paying the same bridge again.

The exceptions are the three bridges that charge in both directions with no free way back. Going in, the passenger pays twice; coming out, they pay nothing for that bridge. The full direction table, the 2023 reasons and the data are in the return-toll rule.

JFK flat fare

The Manhattan–JFK flat rate is "$70, plus any tolls and applicable surcharges" (§58-26(b)(1)). So a route through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel adds the tunnel's E-ZPass toll, and a route with no tolled crossing adds none. Which route to take is the passenger's choice; see toll bridge or free route. Trips between JFK and other boroughs are on the meter, plus tolls.

Trips outside the city

On any trip "beyond the City of New York, the passenger must pay all necessary tolls to and from the destination" (§58-26(f)(2)). That is the return toll for your drive home.

• Newark Airport: meter + $20 Newark surcharge + tolls to and from EWR. TLC's fare page puts it plainly: "passengers are charged for the drivers' return tolls". Port Authority crossings only charge entering New York, so on a Newark trip the Port Authority toll comes on your drive back; the passenger covers it, plus any New Jersey Turnpike tolls in each direction. Route costs: Newark Airport tolls by route, New Jersey Turnpike, and who pays the return toll from Newark.
• Westchester and Nassau: meter inside the city, twice the meter outside, plus tolls both ways. You must explain this before the trip and tell the rider when you cross the city line: see rule 80-17(f)(2).
• Other places: a flat fare you agree before the trip, plus the tolls to and from.

Check any trip

"Actual amount" means the E-ZPass amount

The passenger pays what your tag was actually charged, not the posted cash or mail price. For cars with an NY E-ZPass (rates as of October 12, 2026), MTA crossings cost $7.46 (Verrazzano, RFK, Throgs Neck, Whitestone, Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey), $3.42 (Henry Hudson) and $2.80 (Cross Bay, Marine Parkway). Port Authority crossings into New York cost $14.79 off-peak or $16.79 peak with an NY or NJ E-ZPass.

If your tag wasn't read and you were billed at Mid-Tier or Tolls by Mail, the passenger still owes only the E-ZPass amount; the difference is yours (or the tag holder's) to sort out. See can I charge the full toll rate? and why did I get a toll bill with E-ZPass.

Green cabs: same rule, older PDF

Green cab drivers follow §82-26(f)–(g), which matches the taxi rule. One catch: the chapter 82 PDF on TLC's site (updated Feb 27, 2026) still prints the pre-2023 wording ("all tolls incurred driving to the passenger's destination" and "no tolls for the Driver's return trip, except" Cross Bay and Marine Parkway). The 2023 promulgation amended §82-26(g)(1) to the same text as taxis, effective November 29, 2023. Use the promulgation as your reference. Green cab E-ZPass account duties are in rule 82-27.

Where the toll money goes

The passenger pays the toll; the tag holder gets it.

• Your own tag: you keep the toll the passenger pays, or you are reimbursed if they paid by card (§58-27(c)). TLC allows personal tags (§80-15(d)(3)).
• The owner's tag: cash tolls go to the owner at the end of your shift or lease; card tolls stay with the owner (§58-27(d)(1)).
• You must forward "all tolls paid by the Passengers to the holder of the E-ZPass tag" at the end of the shift or lease. Fine: $50 plus restitution, appearance required (§80-15(d)(4)).
• Tolls with no passenger reimbursement, such as a toll you pay driving empty to a pickup, are still owed to the tag holder (§58-26(f)(4)). Owners may hold a small replenishment deposit for this: see E-ZPass replenishment accounts.

How often taxi trips have a toll

Tolls are not an everyday part of most taxi trips. In TLC trip records from September 2025 to August 2026, about 7% of yellow taxi trips and 4% of green cab trips recorded a toll, compared with 11% of app trips.

To price a route before you go, use the toll calculator:

More: taxi and app trip statistics, tolls on the way to a pickup, Cross Bay Bridge, Brooklyn, and every toll page in the Tolls topic.

This page explains TLC rules in plain English. It is not legal advice.