New York City Toll Crossings

Yes — and as of March 2026, it’s here to stay. A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to shut down the program was unlawful, finding the Transportation Secretary’s actions “arbitrary and capricious.” The ruling was a decisive win for the MTA.

The $9 peak toll for passenger cars has been in effect since January 5, 2025. The program has raised over $468 million in its first year while cutting vehicle entries into the Congestion Relief Zone by 11%. The cameras are on, the tolls are running, and future rate increases are already scheduled:

$12 per entry  ·  effective 2028
$15 per entry  ·  effective 2031

That’s the NYC Congestion Pricing toll — charged automatically when your vehicle entered Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours. There are no toll booths. Instead, a network of cameras and E-ZPass readers at every entry point to the Congestion Relief Zone records every vehicle that crosses the boundary.

If you have a New York-issued E-ZPass, the charge posts directly to your account. If you don’t, the bill goes to the registered owner of the vehicle — which means if you borrowed a car or drove a rental, the bill may have gone elsewhere first before finding its way to you.

The overnight rate (weekdays 9pm–5am, weekends 9pm–9am) is $2.25 for passenger cars — 75% less than the peak toll.

For more on where the zone is and what triggers the charge, see the next question.

The Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ) covers all of Manhattan at or below 60th Street. Any vehicle entering this area — whether via a bridge, a tunnel, or street level from upper Manhattan — is subject to the congestion pricing toll.

The moment you cross south of 60th Street into the Congestion Relief Zone, you’ll be charged the congestion fee. For example, if you drive down Park Avenue from 96th Street to 31st Street, you will trigger the congestion charge.

There are two important exceptions to know: the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway (Route 9A) are excluded from the zone, meaning you can travel through Lower Manhattan on these highways without triggering the toll — as long as you don’t exit onto local streets. The moment you leave those highways and enter the street grid, you’re in the zone.

Only New York-issued E-ZPasses qualify for the lowest toll rates at New York City bridge and tunnel crossings. New York E-ZPasses are issued by one of three agencies: Port Authority of NY/NJ, New York Thruway Authority, and MTA Bridges and Tunnels. Together, these three agencies comprise the New York Customer Service Center (NYCSC).

If your tag was issued by one of these three agencies, it qualifies for the lowest rate at every NYC crossing. If it wasn’t, you will pay the higher Tolls by Mail rates.

This applies even if your non-New York E-ZPass reads perfectly and your account is in good standing. Drivers without a New York E-ZPass typically pay 25% to 60% more, depending on the crossing — and sometimes significantly more on smaller crossings.

For example, the Henry Hudson Bridge costs $3.42 with a New York E-ZPass but $8.87 by mail — over 150% higher.

To get the lowest rates, no matter where you reside: Open a NY E-ZPass account at e-zpassny.com. You do not need a New York address. You do not need to be a New York resident. Anyone, from any state, can sign up and immediately qualify for the lowest rate at every NYC crossing.

Passenger cars and motorcycles are charged just once per day, regardless of how many times you cross in and out of the zone. If you enter at 8am at the peak rate, every subsequent entry that same day is free.

Trucks and buses, however, are charged for each entry. There is no daily cap for commercial vehicles.

One nuance: your daily rate is locked in at whatever rate applies when you first enter. If you drive into the zone at night for $2.25 and then come back during peak hours later that day, you still only pay the $2.25 overnight rate for that calendar day.

No — if you stay on those excluded highways for your entire trip through the zone and exit without touching any local streets below 60th Street, you won’t be charged. The MTA has detection points along both highways to confirm you stayed on them.

However, if you park on or just off these highways, or exit onto local streets at any point, the toll kicks in. “Passing through” is fine. Stopping or detouring onto city streets is not.

It depends on which direction you’re going and which crossing you’re using.

Brooklyn Bridge to FDR Drive northbound — there is a direct ramp that bypasses local streets entirely, so that connection is not tolled.

Brooklyn Bridge to FDR Drive southbound — the connection exits at Pearl Street, which is a local street inside the zone, so that is tolled.

The other East River crossings are less forgiving. The Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, and Queens Midtown Tunnel all require local street connections to reach the FDR Drive — every one of those is tolled.

The Queensboro Bridge upper level is the cleanest option on the east side — its ramp exits onto 62nd Street, which is above the zone boundary, so that connection is not tolled. The lower level requires local streets and is tolled.

On the West Side, neither the Lincoln Tunnel nor the Holland Tunnel connects directly to the West Side Highway — both deposit you onto Manhattan local streets below 60th Street first, so both trigger the congestion charge. The tunnel credit of up to $3 exists specifically because of this. The one exception is the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, which has a direct connection to both the West Side Highway and the FDR Drive without touching local streets — that connection is genuinely Congestion Relief Zone-free.

Yes, but you may get a partial credit. E-ZPass users who enter the Congestion Relief Zone via the Lincoln Tunnel, Holland Tunnel, Queens Midtown Tunnel, or Hugh L. Carey Tunnel during peak hours receive a crossing credit of up to $3 off the congestion toll.

That means a peak-hour E-ZPass driver through the Lincoln Tunnel effectively pays $6 in congestion pricing ($9 minus the $3 credit), on top of the Port Authority or MTA tunnel toll.

The credit only applies to E-ZPass users during peak hours. Tolls by Mail customers receive no credit. And it does not apply overnight, because the overnight congestion rate is already discounted by 75%.

Because your vehicle entered a tolled crossing or area — a bridge, tunnel, or the Congestion Relief Zone — without an E-ZPass. Every tolled crossing in the New York area is fully cashless. Cameras photograph your license plate and a bill (called Tolls by Mail) is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle.

A few things to know: Tolls by Mail rates are significantly higher than E-ZPass rates — sometimes 25–60% more for the same crossing, and even higher on some smaller crossings. And if you don’t pay within 30 days of the bill date, late fees apply. Getting a New York-issued E-ZPass is the single most effective way to reduce your toll costs if you drive in the New York area regularly.

The toll charge goes to the rental company first — since the car is registered to them — and they then bill it to your credit card, often days or even weeks after you return the vehicle. Most rental companies use an automated toll management program and will add an administrative fee on top of the actual toll amount.

If you drove into the Congestion Relief Zone in a rental car without an E-ZPass, you can pay the congestion toll yourself directly through the E-ZPass NY Tolls by Mail payment page — select “Rental / Loaner Vehicle.” Paying directly may save you the rental company’s processing fees.

Always check your rental agreement before driving in New York. The combination of bridge tolls, tunnel tolls, and congestion pricing can add up quickly, and the administrative fees some companies charge per toll transaction can surprise you on the final bill.

Yes — two separate programs, actually. The Low-Income Discount Plan (LIDP) offers a 50% discount on the peak congestion toll, but only after your first 10 trips in a calendar month. To qualify, your federal adjusted gross income must be $50,000 or less, or you must be enrolled in SNAP, WIC, or TANF. You have to apply through the MTA — the discount is not automatic.

Separately, if you live inside the Congestion Relief Zone and your New York State adjusted gross income is under $60,000, you may qualify for a tax credit equal to the amount of congestion tolls you paid that year — effectively making the program cost-neutral for lower-income zone residents.

No. There is no discount for electric vehicles under the current congestion pricing structure. Your vehicle type and payment method determine your rate — not your powertrain. A Tesla Model 3 pays the same $9 peak toll as a Ford F-150.

This surprises many EV drivers who expected an exemption. The program is designed around reducing vehicle entries into Manhattan, not rewarding fuel efficiency — and the MTA needs the revenue regardless of what’s under the hood.

Yes. The $9 passenger car rate is the first phase of a planned increase schedule built into the original legislation. The congestion pricing fee rises to $12 in 2028 and then to $15 in 2031. The phased approach was designed to give drivers time to adjust their commuting habits and for transit alternatives to improve alongside the toll revenue.

The $15 figure was actually the original proposed rate before Governor Hochul reduced it to $9 at launch — so the program is gradually working back toward what was first envisioned.

You might notice three pricing tiers in the toll rate tables on this site: E-ZPass, Mid-Tier, and Tolls by Mail. Mid-Tier is the one that confuses people most.

Mid-Tier applies when you have a valid New York-issued E-ZPass account but your tag wasn’t successfully read at the toll antenna. This can happen because your tag is improperly mounted, your transponder battery is low, your license plate isn’t linked to your account, or you’re using a third-party E-ZPass account not issued by a New York-area agency (NYCSC). In these cases, the system bills you by license plate at a rate between E-ZPass and Tolls by Mail.

The fix is simple: make sure your current license plate is linked to your New York-issued E-ZPass account, and that your tag is mounted properly on your windshield as directed.

If you’re heading to Manhattan above 60th Street, the George Washington Bridge (from New Jersey) or the Henry Hudson Bridge (from the Bronx/Westchester) both deposit you in upper Manhattan with no congestion charge — because you arrive above the zone boundary.

If your destination is below 60th Street, there is no way to avoid the congestion charge entirely by road. Every entry point into lower and midtown Manhattan triggers it — including the free East River bridges.

Your best options for minimizing total cost are using a tolled tunnel with a New York-issued E-ZPass (to get the up-to-$3 crossing credit) or, if you’re coming from New Jersey, timing your trip for overnight hours when the rate drops to $2.25.

For detailed route recommendations by starting region and destination, use the Route Advisor tool on each vehicle-specific page.

They do — and this is probably the most common source of confusion for drivers new to congestion pricing. The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, and Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge have no toll booths and charge no crossing fee. But crossing them into Manhattan puts you inside the Congestion Relief Zone, which triggers the $9 charge automatically via camera.

So crossing the bridge itself is free, but entering Manhattan’s streets is not. Crossing in the other direction — leaving Manhattan toward Brooklyn or Queens — costs nothing at all.

There is no E-ZPass discount for the congestion charge. Unlike the MTA and Port Authority bridges and tunnels, the congestion pricing toll is the same rate regardless of how you pay.

A New York E-ZPass (issued through NYCSC — the New York Customer Service Center) is accepted at every tolled crossing covered on this site: all MTA bridges and tunnels, all Port Authority bridges and tunnels, and all congestion pricing detection points. It’s also accepted on the New York State Thruway, all New Jersey toll roads, and at toll facilities in 19 states across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

If you drive in the New York area more than occasionally, getting a New York-issued E-ZPass is one of the most financially sensible things you can do — the savings over Tolls by Mail rates are substantial, and you avoid late fees from missed mail bills entirely.

One important note: an E-ZPass issued by another state will be accepted at most crossings, but the discounted toll rates and special programs available to New York E-ZPass (NYCSC) holders — including the Low-Income Discount Plan and the Staten Island resident rebate — will not apply. For those, you need a New York-issued NYCSC account specifically.