Two-Way Tolling On Verrazzano Bridge To Start In December: MTA

BROOKLYN, NY — Long-sought split tolling on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge will officially start in December, requiring drivers headed to Brooklyn from Staten Island to pay for the first time since the 1980s, the MTA announced.

The transit authority said Monday that a new two-way tolling system — passed by the federal government late last year— will take effect at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1 on the bridge.

Under the new system drivers will pay $9.50 each way on the bridge instead of the current model where it costs $19 to head into Staten Island but nothing to cross into Brooklyn.

Elected officials have long said the one-way toll forces local drivers to shoulder the cost of the bridge while out-of-state drivers headed into New York City get through for free.

“I promised to do everything I can to end my constituents’ commuting nightmare and with split tolling we’ll see fewer out of state cars and trucks clogging up our expressway at no cost to residents," said U.S. Rep. Max Rose, one of the lawmakers who led the decades-long fight to end bring back two-way tolling.

The $9.50 mail-in toll price will be significantly discounted for Staten Island residents, who will pay $2.75 and Staten Island carpoolers, who will pay $1.70. E-ZPass users will pay $6.12.

The legislation to bring back two-way tolls lifted a ban on the split tolling that was put on the bridge in the 1980s, which made it the only bridge in the country with federally-mandated one-way tolls.

It will mean the bridge's $19 fee will no longer hold the title of the most expensive toll in the country. The Verrazzano became the most expensive toll after a hike from $17 earlier this year.

MTA officials have estimated that the two-way tolling could bring in an additional $10 to $15 million in revenue from the bridge and reduce the number of regional motorists cutting through Staten Island, which reached 7,000 per weekday pre-pandemic.