Los Angeles International Airport could soon double the fees customers pay when getting picked up or dropped off by ride-hailing services, taxis and limousines.
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners will vote at a special meeting Tuesday to potentially hike the fees charged to those companies — and passed on to their customers — in an effort to reduce congestion and encourage future visitors to use its long-delayed, nearly $3.5 billion automated people mover when it opens, possibly later this year.
Currently, anyone getting dropped off and picked up pays $4 or $5 in base airport access fees in each direction, depending on the location. All three services get charged for pickup, but only ride-hailers pay for drop-off as well.
Under the proposal, riders using any of the services would pay a base of $6 each way, even when coming and going from the remote LAX-it lot, starting as soon as April. Then, once LAX’s people mover, dubbed SkyLink, comes online, the fees could jump to $12 to hop in or out at the curb outside terminals 1 through 8, known as the Central Terminal Area.
Someone now paying $10 in fees, round trip, would pay $24, or 140% more. By comparison, curbside pickup or drop-off at San Diego and San Francisco international airports costs $4.50 to $6.
“For the first time in over a decade, as part of ongoing efforts to improve congestion at LAX, LAWA is exploring options to adjust the drop-off and pick-up costs for rideshare companies,” David Reich, deputy executive director of mobility strategy at LAWA, said in a statement. “The adjustment will be reinvested across the airport to help deliver a world class airport experience for Angelenos and guests.”
The fees charged to the companies today “no longer reflect the value of the airport market, especially given the multibillion- dollar investments in LAX landside access, terminals and other facilities and amenities,” according to a LAWA staff report.
“The CTA has finite capacity, so managing demand ensures a positive experience for both travelers and employees, helping LAWA and Los Angeles maximize the value of the multibillion-dollar SkyLink investment,” the report said.
LAWA estimates the higher fees could generate as much as $100 million in the first full year after SkyLink opens.
As one might expect, the affected companies aren’t happy.
Uber planned to email Los Angeles customers and drivers to sound the alarm ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. The email warns LAX’s fees “would be the most expensive in the world” and urges its customers to contact city and airport officials to voice their opposition.
These fees are paid by riders and “go directly to the airport,” not drivers or Uber, according to the email.
“A 140% fee hike with no transparency or public process is indefensible,” Danielle Lam, Uber’s head of local California policy, said in a statement. “Raising the LAX rideshare fee from $5 to $12 at the curb would punish travelers, working families, and seniors who depend on affordable, reliable transportation. Uber supports improving LAX, but not on the backs of the people who keep it running.”
The fee hike isn’t the only proposal before the board that might affect visitors.
Another up for vote would limit the number of riders that taxis and ride-hailing companies could take to, or from, the curb outside the airport’s busiest terminals. A staff report to the board said companies like Uber and Lyft are responsible for “nearly 30,000 daily trips” to the Central Terminal Area.
Los Angeles World Airports would require the companies, as part of license agreements with the airport, to pick up no more than 30% and drop off no more than 70% of its fares within the CTA. Everyone else will have to head to a SkyLink station instead.
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners meets at 10 a.m. at the Clifton A. Moore Administration Building at LAX.
