Throgs Neck Bridge Toll for TLC Drivers

In short: The Throgs Neck Bridge between the Bronx and Queens costs a car $7.46 with a New York E-ZPass, $9.79 at the Mid-Tier rate and $12.03 by mail, every time you cross, in either direction (rates as of October 12, 2026). On a taxi, green cab or FHV trip the passenger pays it, at the amount your E-ZPass was actually charged. On Uber and Lyft, the company must pay you back. If the trip continues to Nassau or Westchester, a taxi passenger also pays the special out-of-city fare and any tolls needed to get there and back to the city.

Throgs Neck rates (Class 1 car)

Three things decide which price you pay:

• Who issued your tag. The MTA's rate page says: "E-ZPass rates apply to NYCSC E-ZPass customers only," and "Non-NYCSC customers pay Tolls by Mail rates" (MTA). An E-ZPass from New Jersey or another state pays $12.03 here, not $7.46.
• Whether the tag is read. A New York customer whose tag is not properly mounted, or whose crossing is charged to the account by license plate, pays Mid-Tier ($9.79).
• No account at all. The registered owner gets a Toll Bill at $12.03.

Who pays on each kind of TLC trip

Inside the city the passenger pays "all tolls incurred during the trip," with three exceptions: trips leaving Staten Island over the Verrazzano and leaving the Rockaways over the Cross Bay or Marine Parkway bridges (§58-26(f)(1)). The Throgs Neck is not one of them, so a Bronx–Queens passenger always pays it. You never charge a passenger for your empty return over the Throgs Neck on a trip that ends in the city.

Charging more than the real E-ZPass amount is an overcharge (§58-26(f)(3)). If the company does not repay a toll on an app trip, TLC's fine is $500 plus restitution to you (§59D-17(c)).

Trips to Nassau or Westchester

The Throgs Neck is a common way out of the city toward Long Island and lower Westchester. For a taxi or green cab, §58-26(c)(2) sets the fare to Westchester or Nassau as:

1. the meter for the part of the trip inside the city, plus
2. twice the meter for the part outside the city, plus
3. all necessary tolls to and from the destination, plus
4. the MTA tax.

Before you start you must tell the passenger how the charge is calculated, including the tolls both ways, and you must tell them when you cross the city line so they can check the meter (§80-17(f)(2)(ii)–(iii), fine $25). The taximeter must record the whole time (§80-17(f)(2)(i), fine $100). TLC's fare page says the screen should switch to "Rate #04 – Out of City Rate to Nassau or Westchester" once you pass the city limit.

Example: a Bronx pickup going to a Nassau address over the Throgs Neck. The passenger pays the Throgs Neck toll on the way ($7.46 with a New York E-ZPass), on top of the fare. The return-toll rule covers tolls for "the Driver's return to the City" (§80-17(f)(2)(iv)). Coming back from Nassau you re-enter the city in Queens, and no toll is needed for that, so the rule does not clearly make the passenger pay for your Throgs Neck crossing back to the Bronx. If you are unsure on a trip like this, agree it with the passenger before you start. More on every out-of-city fare: tolls on trips outside NYC.

How busy is the Throgs Neck?

MTA's open crossing data counts 45,245,619 crossings of the Throgs Neck in 2025, all vehicle classes (ebfx-2m7v, counted by TLC Help on October 12, 2026). That is the fourth-busiest MTA toll plaza, after the Verrazzano-Narrows, the RFK Bridge's Bronx plaza and the Bronx-Whitestone. The split was close to even: 22,067,564 toward the Bronx (48.8%) and 23,178,055 toward Queens (51.2%). 84.3% of crossings were read as E-ZPass and 15.7% as Tolls by Mail. Cars were 41,243,070 of the crossings (91.2%).

The MTA says this data counts "all traffic on the facilities, regardless of whether the driver ultimately pays the toll," and its payment method is "preliminary." It does not say how many crossings were TLC vehicles.

For TLC trips in general, trip records show how often a toll is paid at all:

Nearby crossings

The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and RFK Bridge cost the same $7.46, so the cheapest route is usually the shortest one. TLC rules say you must take the shortest reasonable route unless the passenger asks for another one: toll bridge or free route?. Other MTA crossings: Verrazzano-Narrows, Cross Bay, Marine Parkway. Going on to New Jersey: George Washington Bridge, Goethals Bridge. All MTA rules in one place: MTA bridges and tunnels. Congestion charges if the trip ends in Manhattan: congestion pricing for TLC drivers. Also see Brooklyn and the tolls hub.