# It costs $15 to cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York? Do any higher US tolls exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030 "2013-08-24T03:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/1 "2013-08-24T03:50:20Z")
When I read this new item[re battling politicians](http://politicker.com/2013/08/john-catsimatidis-hits-joe-lhota-with-attack-ads/)I assumed this was some crazy scheme that never got implemented then I [wiki’d the bridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verrazano-Narrows_Bridge) and the toll is indeed $ 15.00 per car. I’m stunned that a high volume bridge toll would be this high. Are there any higher in the US? > [@](#): > > In 2008, about 190,000 vehicles used the bridge per day on average.[2] > > As of March 3, 2013, the one-way toll (paid westbound into Staten Island only) in cash is $15.00 per car or $6.00 per motorcycle. E‑ZPass users with transponders issued by the New York E‑ZPass Customer Service Center pay $10.66 per car or $4.64 per motorcycle; a five-axle truck pays $80, or $52.52 with NY E-ZPass. Holders of transponders issued elsewhere get no discount.[17] ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/2 "2013-08-24T04:03:17Z")
Note that that $15 is only charged one way, so a round trip still costs $15. The [Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel](http://www.cbbt.com/schedule.html) costs $12 each way, making for a round-trip cost of $24. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/3 "2013-08-24T04:09:59Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > The [Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel](http://www.cbbt.com/schedule.html) costs $12 each way, making for a round-trip cost of $24. Unless you do the return trip within 24 hours, then it’s only $5. So round-trip cost of $17. (Of course it’s till higher than the one the OP mentioned.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/4 "2013-08-24T13:06:59Z")
Another reason to avoid the Metro NYC area like the black death. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/5 "2013-08-24T14:40:14Z")
New York doesn’t really have much choice in this matter. The traffic was getting more and more horrible with no end in sight. The mayor proposed “congestion pricing”, which would charge people additional money for having a vehicle in certain parts of the city with the worst traffic, thereby encouraging more to take public transit. Political obstacles blocked that approach. The high tolls on the bridges and tunnels accomplish more or less the same thing. It’s not so good for the poor, of course. In addition, state and local governments in New York and New Jersey are rather badly in need of money, and tolls are one way to get some. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/6 "2013-08-24T14:45:55Z")
Although not in the US, I might mention that the round trip toll on the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island is now $44.50. I have been on it once, about 15 years ago, when it was, IIRC, $36, so it appears to go up every year. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/7 "2013-08-24T14:50:41Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > Another reason to avoid the Metro NYC area like the black death. …while driving. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/8 "2013-08-24T15:52:55Z")
The Pike’s Peak Highway is $12 a person up to $40 a car (during the summer) and it doesn’t even go anywhere! ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/9 "2013-08-24T15:58:06Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Note that that $15 is only charged one way, so a round trip still costs $15. > > The [Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel](http://www.cbbt.com/schedule.html) costs $12 each way, making for a round-trip cost of $24. I grew up on Long Island. I was stationed in Norfolk. To go home and visit my parents, I would cross both of those bridges. My parents wondered why I only visited once a year… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/10 "2013-08-24T17:34:28Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > Another reason to avoid the Metro NYC area like the black death. A trifle difficult if you live there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/11 "2013-08-24T18:00:35Z")
If you drove the entire 570 mile length of the New York State Thruway, the toll would be $20.60. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/12 "2013-08-24T18:04:00Z")
> [@astro](#): > > When I read this new item[re battling politicians](http://politicker.com/2013/08/john-catsimatidis-hits-joe-lhota-with-attack-ads/)I assumed this was some crazy scheme that never got implemented then I [wiki’d the bridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verrazano-Narrows_Bridge) and the toll is indeed $ 15.00 per car. > > I’m stunned that a high volume bridge toll would be this high. Are there any higher in the US? As others have pointed out, it’s a one-way toll, so that $15 is the cost of a round trip (of course, if you’re not making a round trip, your effective cost is steeper). Also, I don’t know what the percentage of people using EZ Pass is, but I’m willing to bet (based on nothing but personal observation) that it’s a majority, so most people aren’t paying the whole $15. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/13 "2013-08-24T18:26:16Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Also, I don’t know what the percentage of people using EZ Pass is, but I’m willing to bet (based on nothing but personal observation) that it’s a majority, so most people aren’t paying the whole $15. Most of the people crossing the V-N bridge daily are commuters from Staten Island/NJ, long distance travelers, and trucks. I don’t know the rules about purchasing a NY EZ-pass transponder if you reside in another state, since the discount only applies if you have a transponder from NY. You can always come in from NJ, cross the Goethals and V-N bridge and pay $13 on the Goethals, then go back to NJ by using the Holland tunnel, which is free that way, and “only” pay $13 for the trip. Which reminds me, round trip across Staten Island via the V-N bridge on the East and the Goethals or Outerbridge or Bayonne Bridge on the West costs $28 total- $13 Eastbound and $15 westbound. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/14 "2013-08-24T18:37:20Z")
The I-80 Turnpike can top out at $40 for a toll or so over it’s length, iirc. and that’s one way. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/15 "2013-08-25T08:32:36Z")
If we’re allowing turnpike tolls, then the longest trip you could take on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, from the Ohio border to Clarks Summit on the Northeast Extension, would cost the driver of an ordinary car $46.30 (one-way) without an EZ Pass. Of course, a quick glance at a map would show that only a total turnpike fanboy/fangirl would use that route, as I80 to I81 is much more direct. So that leaves the Ohio-to-New-Jersey route, which would be just short of $40 (again one-way) for a normal car. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/16 "2013-08-25T12:15:55Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Most of the people crossing the V-N bridge daily are commuters from Staten Island/NJ, long distance travelers, and trucks. I don’t know the rules about purchasing a NY EZ-pass transponder if you reside in another state, since the discount only applies if you have a transponder from NY. > > You can always come in from NJ, cross the Goethals and V-N bridge and pay $13 on the Goethals, then go back to NJ by using the Holland tunnel, which is free that way, and “only” pay $13 for the trip. > > Which reminds me, round trip across Staten Island via the V-N bridge on the East and the Goethals or Outerbridge or Bayonne Bridge on the West costs $28 total- $13 Eastbound and $15 westbound. Painful, this. Driving upstate to see my kids when they were in Orange County involved GWB and TriBoro both ways. GWB is free leaving of course, but that was still one pricey but of face time. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/17 "2013-08-25T14:17:04Z")
> [@](#): > > It costs $ 15.00 to cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge My gosh, that makes me want to fling myself over the side. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/18 "2013-08-25T15:08:53Z")
That’ll only complicate things. Youll need shots from being in NY Harbor! !😃 ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/19 "2013-08-27T00:11:26Z")
Does the Mt. Washington Auto Road count? It is $26.00 for a car and driver, with an additional $8.00 per passenger. The toll is only charged on the way up. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030/20 "2013-08-27T01:51:05Z")
I know you asked about the US, but it cost me $42 to cross the bridge from PEI to New Brunswick 6 years ago; can’t recall the name. Constitution Bridge? It’s about 9 miles long. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-costs-15-to-cross-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge-in-new-york-do-any-higher-us-tolls-exist/667030.md?page=2)