How much in tolls from Laguardia to Bayonne?

[TNIris]

Hi all!

 

How much can I expect to pay in tolls from Laguardia (hotel in Flushing) to the cruise port in Bayonne?

 

Also, how much should I tip my Carmel driver?

 

Thanks!

[njhorseman]

Tolls will depend on the route and even hour of the day...there are toll free crossings of the East River (this is to get from Queens to Manhattan) such as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, but the Queens Midtown Tunnel or RFK Bridge will cost $7.50 (cash toll) or $5.33 (EZ Pass Toll). The Hudson River crossings (to get from Manhattan to NJ) such as the Holland or Lincoln Tunnel will be $13 cash toll or $11 EZ Pass (peak travel hours toll). NJ Turnpike (assuming you entered NJ through the Holland Tunnel) would be $1.35 in each direction.

 

To simplify a complicated calculation that really doesn't have a single answer...figure tolls at about $20...could a couple of dollars less, could be a couple of dollars more.

 

Customary tip is 20% of the fare (don't include tolls in this calculation), so if they've quoted you a base fare of $50 for example, a tip of $10 is customary. Just make sure the driver hasn't "conveniently" (for his sake) already added the tip in when he tells you how much you have to pay...don't end up tipping twice...that's why it's important to know exactly what the reservation office has quoted for the fare.

Edited September 30, 2014 by njhorseman

[smeyer418]

to confuse the toll matter even more, the east river tolls are paid each way on the bridge or tunnel. The Tunnels to NJ tolls are only collected one way- east bound. There is no toll on them entering into NJ. The car service may or may not collect the toll to return to Manhattan from NJ.

[njhorseman]

When I owned a travel agency I had a conversation with a limo company owner (not Carmel) about how they handled the charge for tolls (we often comped a limo ride to the pier or airport for our clients so I wanted to get an idea of how they were computing the toll charges). He told me that you can assume you will be charged tolls as if the car was being dead headed (run with no fare paying passengers ) back to the base so even if the toll wasn't collected in the actual direction in which the passenger was traveling, you would be charged the return trip toll to get the car back to the base. (Of course if they have a fare for the return trip the limo gets to collect twice...once from you and once from the passenger on the return trip.)

 

Anyway...I have no idea what Carmel's practice is, but when answering a question here I always assume the passenger will be paying the toll that is collected only one way even if that's not the direction in which they're traveling. In other words I include the tolls for the Hudson River crossings in my estimate regardless of whether the car is traveling from NY to NJ or in the opposite direction.

 

Sid, as you know if you take a NY City taxi to EWR you definitely will be charged the full round trip tolls (plus the $17.50 fare surcharge). That is specified in the fare rules for a very good reason...NYC taxis can't pick up fare paying passengers in NJ and must return to the city empty.