Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the location of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It is in Virginia.

New Jersey commuters to New York, brace yourselves. A $2 toll increase for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge takes effect Sunday.

The new full price for the crossing into Staten Island is $19, up from $17. The toll is only assessed in the Staten Island-bound direction. Check out the photo gallery above for a look at another New York crossing, the then-recently opened Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

The good news (or rather, the not-quite-so-bad news) is that you will only be charged the full rate (by mail) if your vehicle doesn't have a New York-issued E-ZPass. Those who do have one will pay $12.24, a 72-cent increase.

Having a New Jersey-issued E-ZPass, unfortunately, will not trigger the discount rate. You already know this if you are a veteran road warrior. The rest of you who travel the Verrazzano on a regular basis will want to sign up for a New York E-ZPass as soon as humanly possible, unless you plan to forgo your morning coffee-and-bagel-to-go to make up the difference.

At $17 per trip, the 55-year-old Verrazzano already ranked among the priciest crossings in the country. (The new hike makes the $15 cash toll for the George Washington Bridge seems like a relative bargain. See how that works?) The peak season toll for Virginia's 23-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel increased to $18 in January.

The MTA, which operates the Verrazzano bridge, is raising tolls on its other major New York crossings, as well: the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge, the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and the Queens Midtown Tunnel. The MTA says the increases are necessary to "achieve budgeted revenue targets."

Shannon Mullen: @MullenAPP; shannon@app.com; 732-643-4278