Rideshare Prices Are About to Get WAY More Expensive at LAX

We’ve got some bad news for those who are flying in or out of LAX in the future and need to grab a rideshare.

Don’t worry, it’s not that the service is going away at all, but it IS about to become more expensive. You likely have already seen that rideshare services are subject to price gouging, depending on how busy it is at certain times, but now there’s another reason rideshares are about to get more expensive around LAX.

According to the LA Times, if you’re taking a taxi or a rideshare to or from LAX, it could get more expensive. Last Tuesday, board members for the Los Angeles World Airports “approved a fee hike for private transportation companies that pick up and drop off passengers at Los Angeles International Airport.” This will affect companies like Lyft, Uber, as well as taxi and limo services.

However, there is a bit of good news — the fee hikes aren’t planned to go into effect until the airport’s automated people mover, Skylink, opens this summer. There’s no official opening date at this time.

Why the price increase in the first place? Well, the idea is to ease congestion inside LAX, but from what it seems like, fliers already aren’t happy, and don’t think this will change things.

At the meeting last Tuesday morning, many were speaking out against the proposed fee hike, including Danielle Lam, head of local California policy for Uber, who said, “A 140% fee hike will directly impact riders and reduce demand for drivers who rely on airport trips. We support investments that improve the airport experience, but they must be transparent and balanced.” Airport officials argued that the price increase isn’t to passengers themselves, but to the companies…to which people argued back immediately that customers and passengers WILL feel the cost in the end, as rideshare services are likely to add that cost onto trips, so the company doesn’t lose profit.

Currently, Uber and Lyft pay $4 to pick up passengers at the airport and nothing to drop them off, but with these price hikes, it would increase to $12 for the terminal area and $6 for the Skylink area for all private transportation vehicles. That’s a STEEP increase.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest travel news to keep you in the loop, so stay tuned to AllEars.

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