<P> Despite not collecting tolls in the eastbound direction since 1986, the MTA did not do anything with the unused booths for a quarter - century . In 2010, eight of the eleven Brooklyn - bound toll booths were removed as part of the first phase of a project to improve traffic flow at the toll plaza . Two years later, the last of the eastbound tollbooths was removed . To this day, tolls are still collected only in the Staten Island - bound direction, and congestion within Lower Manhattan persists due to the bridge's one - way westbound toll . </P> <P> Open - road cashless tolling began on July 8, 2017 . The westbound tollbooths were also dismantled, and drivers were no longer able to pay cash at the bridge . Instead, there are cameras mounted onto new overhead gantries near where the booths were located . Drivers without E-ZPass will have a picture of their license plate taken, and the toll will be mailed to them . For E-ZPass users, sensors will detect their transponders wirelessly . </P> <P> In 2015, an average of 202,523 vehicles used the Verrazano - Narrows Bridge daily in both directions . As of 2015, the Verrazano - Narrows Bridge carries more traffic than the Outerbridge Crossing, the Bayonne Bridge, and the Goethals Bridge . These three bridges, which connect Staten Island with New Jersey, were used by a combined 168,984 vehicles in both directions . </P> <P> In 2011, Transportation for America rated the bridge as New York's most dangerous, because of the combination of deterioration and the amount of people who cross it per day . The MTA responded that the bridge, which was the state's newest large bridge and its longest, was structurally sound, and that the bridge had passed its most recent inspection . The MTA attributed Transportation for America's results to a "misinterpretation of inspection records". </P>

How many cars drive over the verrazano bridge