One-way tolls come to an end on Verrazzano Bridge

A free ride of sorts comes to an end for users of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge when tolls begin to be collected in both directions for the first time in 34 years.

The current tolls collected traveling westbound on the span will be split in half with each amount being charged in both Staten Island and at a new toll gantry in Brooklyn.

The current $19 toll collected westbound for non-New York E-ZPass and cash users will now be $9.50 in each direction starting 2 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1.

After paying no Brooklyn-bound toll, drivers leaving New York were able to avoid tolls completely by returning to New Jersey via the Holland Tunnel, which collects no toll leaving Manhattan.

Congress mandated tolls to be collected in the westbound direction in 1986. The one-way toll mandate was changed by Congress in 2019 and the MTA Board approved two way collection in March.