Queens Midtown Tunnel Toll & Congestion Credit

In short: The Queens Midtown Tunnel costs a car $7.46 with a New York E-ZPass, $9.79 Mid-Tier and $12.03 by mail, in each direction. On a TLC trip the passenger pays the actual E-ZPass amount. The Manhattan end is inside the congestion zone, so a trip through the tunnel into Midtown also carries the $0.75 (taxi/FHV) or $1.50 (Uber/Lyft) per-trip charge.

Rates (Class 1 car, MTA rates from January 4, 2026)

Which column you pay depends on your tag, not the time of day. MTA crossings have no peak price:

• E-ZPass ($7.46) is only for tags from the New York Customer Service Center (NYCSC).
• Mid-Tier ($9.79) is for NYCSC customers whose tag is not properly mounted, or whose crossing was matched to the account by license plate.
• Tolls by Mail ($12.03) is for everyone else, including other states' E-ZPass tags. In the MTA's words: "Non-NYCSC customers pay Tolls by Mail rates" (MTA vehicle types).

That last point catches drivers with a New Jersey tag. TLC rules already require taxis and FHVs to carry a New York MTA Bridges & Tunnels E-ZPass (§58-26(e)(1), §59A-23(a)(1)); drivers may use a personal tag (§80-15(d)(3)), but at MTA crossings it only gets $7.46 if it is an NYCSC tag.

Who pays on each kind of TLC trip

For trips inside New York City, the 2023 round-trip toll rule says the passenger pays "all tolls incurred during the trip", with exceptions only for certain Staten Island and Rockaway bridges (TLC promulgation). The Queens Midtown Tunnel is not one of them, so:

The passenger pays the toll for the direction of the trip only. If you drive back through the tunnel empty, that toll is yours. Charging the passenger more than the actual E-ZPass amount is an overcharge (§58-26(f)(3)). You must take the shortest reasonable route unless the passenger asks for a specific one (§80-16(a)), which matters on airport runs where a free bridge is an option. See toll bridge or free route with a passenger?

Where the tunnel meets the congestion zone

The tunnel's Manhattan exit is inside the Congestion Relief Zone (Manhattan at and below 60th Street).

• TLC trips: the per-trip charge applies to any trip to, from, within or through the zone. A JFK-to-Midtown trip through the tunnel carries the tunnel toll and the per-trip charge, both paid by the passenger.
• Private cars: the daily zone toll ($9.00 peak with E-ZPass) gets a $1.50 credit when you enter or exit the zone through the Queens Midtown or Hugh L. Carey Tunnel at peak with E-ZPass. The credit rises to $2.00 in 2028 and $2.50 in 2031 (TBTA schedule). It is half the $3.00 Lincoln/Holland credit; the MTA FAQ says the credit depends on the vehicle type and "whether the tunnel is tolled in one or both directions", and this tunnel is tolled both ways. The same $5.00 daily credit cap applies. Examples: congestion pricing crossing credits.

In 2025 the MTA counted 6,246,920 TLC taxi/FHV entries into the zone through this tunnel, 38.9% of all vehicles entering there, the fourth-busiest TLC entry point after East 60th Street, West 60th Street and the FDR Drive at 60th Street (t6yz-b64h).

Traffic and E-ZPass use

In 2025 the tunnel carried 30,024,381 crossings: 15,947,247 westbound to Manhattan and 14,077,134 eastbound to Queens. 85.3% were paid by E-ZPass and the rest by Tolls by Mail (our sums of ebfx-2m7v, fetched October 12, 2026). The dataset counts all traffic, whether or not the toll was later paid. Compare all crossings on NYC toll rates compared.

How the congestion charge works on a shift: congestion pricing for TLC drivers. The full zone rate card: Congestion Relief Zone toll. All crossings: tolls hub.