LAX Leads Airport Stand Against Uber and Lyft Congestion
Photo Credit: A rendering of the new automated people mover at Los Angeles International Airport. Los Angeles World Airports
Skift Take
This is a bad development for frequent flyers. Many Uber and Lyft riders value their time, and they don't want to have to hop on a shuttle bus to get to a rideshare pickup area. Here's a better idea: Let people arrange for rideshare pickups at the terminals — but only if they pay extra money for the privilege.
With roadway traffic mounting, Los Angeles International Airport soon will bar rideshare and taxi drivers from picking up passengers outside its terminals, forcing travelers to ride shuttle buses to a nearby parking lot where they will be matched with a car.
Los Angeles International, which handles more origin and destination passengers than any other U.S airport, is planning to make the change at 3 a.m. on Oct. 29, according to documents shared with Skift. Drop-offs at terminals will still be permitted, documents show.
It's an admission that the airport, which has seen its airline passenger traffic rise from 59 million in 2010 to 87.5 million last year, can no longer handle the Uber and Lyft cars gumming up its roads. Almost 26,000 rideshare cars in August used the airport's roadways each day, airport statistics show. Rideshare cars account for roughly 27 percent of all commericial traffic at the airport, figures sh
