LAX allows Uber to pick up passengers at airport

Students arriving at Los Angeles International Airport can use the ride-sharing service Uber to return to Westwood Village.

Los Angeles World Airports, or LAWA, allowed Uber to pick up passengers from LAX beginning Thursday. LAWA, the city’s airport operations department, previously allowed the company to drop off but not pick up passengers at the airport.

UberX, which contracts private car owners as drivers, can only pick up passengers on the airport’s upper departures level at specially marked areas, according to a press release. UberBLACK, UberSUV and UberLUX vehicles can now pick up passengers on the lower arrivals level.

Juan Matute, a professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, said he thinks passengers who use UberX from the upper departures level can leave the airport faster and avoid the congestion on the lower level. He added he thinks taxi drivers, who drive on the lower level, will face competition from Uber drivers.

“Taxi drivers love LAX pickups because it’s where they make the bulk of their profits,” he said. “For the taxi industry, a big decline in their LAX trips would be a game changer for them.”

Taxi companies spent almost $600,000 over the past two years to lobby city officials to vote against allowing ride-sharing companies to pick up passengers from the airport, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles City Council voted to allow companies to apply to pick up passengers from LAX in August. The Los Angeles City Council in August voted to allow companies that fill an application to pick up passengers in LAX.

As part of the agreement with LAWA, Uber will pay the airport $4 per trip, and no more than 40 drivers will be allowed to wait for ride requests through the Uber app at one time. Other LAX transportation providers, such as taxi or shuttle companies, pay similar fees.

To pick up passengers from the airport, Uber officials completed a four-month-long application process that required the company to submit information about its operations, insurance agreements and vehicle permits and comply with the airport’s safety regulations, according to the press release.

California was the first state to allow ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft in its cities, but did not extend its policy to airports, Matute said. A September 2014 bill required ride-share companies disclose their insurance policies to drivers. Companies do not have to provide coverage for injuries to the driver or damages to the car.

Matute said he thinks both companies made unregulated pickups at the airport even before LAX introduced its own policy.

“A lot of airports are still in ‘Wild West’ mode and don’t enforce rules,” he said. “The benefit of working with the airport is there are signs directing you to the pickup zone, so they get official marketing from the airport.”

UCLA and LAWA jointly operate a FlyAway bus that shuttles students, faculty members and other Westwood residents between Westwood and LAX once every hour. Its fare is $10, compared to Uber’s price estimate of $22 to $28 for an UberX trip from the airport to campus. Rival service Lyft, which also applied to pick up passengers at LAX, began its service at the airport in December.

Many students said they think the cost of using UberX is worthwhile because the service is reliable. Makenna Beigh, a first-year undeclared student, said she thinks Uber is easy to use, which makes up for its higher cost.

“Campus is pretty far from LAX so Uber can be expensive, but their service is easier than finding the shuttle at the airport or finding your own way to get (to UCLA),” she said.

Xin Li, a graduate student in electrical engineering, said he usually takes the FlyAway bus but recently used UberX to get to UCLA from LAX. He added he intends to switch to using UberX because he thinks the service is more convenient.