Logan Ubers and Lyfts face higher fees, flow restrictions
Ride-hailing trips to Logan International Airport will change significantly this fall after the Massachusetts Port Authority approved a compromise plan Thursday that adds a new fee and requires drivers to use a central garage location for three-quarters of the day.
Under the new plan, approved by Massport's Board of Directors at a Thursday meeting, Uber and Lyft drivers will be allowed to leave customers curbside between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. and only outside the arrival terminals. All trips heading to the airport outside that span — and every pickup of a customer already at the airport regardless of time — will work through a designated area in the central garage, according to Massport.
When the new logistics take place on Oct. 1, riders will also be charged a $3.25 fee for all individual ride-hailing trips to the airport, equal to what they currently pay for such trips leaving Logan. Shared rides on the services, however, will be offered a discounted fee of $1.50.
The plan, one of the most significant changes to how Uber and Lyft operate in Massachusetts in years, was scaled back from an initial proposal. Massport suggested last month increasing the single-rider fees to $5 in either direction and requiring customers to be dropped off in the garage 24 hours a day, but revised its plan after significant pushback from Uber and Lyft.
Officials say the changes are necessary to help address worsening congestion on the airport's roadways and in surrounding communities. Uber and Lyft drivers made 12 million trips to and from Logan in 2018, and Massport expects as many as 15 million this year.
"The increasing congestion is negatively impacting the airport roadway, the tunnels and Rte. 1A," Massport Board Chairman Lew Evangelidis said in a press release. "This is the best plan for the long-term sustainability of Logan Airport, by reducing the traffic for all airport passengers, as well as the residents of our surrounding communities. This will be subject to review as we move forward."
One of the key problem transit officials point to is trips headed to the airport with no passengers, a practice referred to as "deadheading." By requiring drivers to pick up and drop off in a single location, Massport officials say they can reduce those empty trips — which numbered 5 million in 2018 — by up to 30 percent and make it more convenient for the companies.
The authority believes riders will benefit from the change in trip logistics because they will spend less time in traffic and will arrive and depart from a weather-protected part of the garage. But Uber and Lyft pushed back, launching online petitions and radio ads in opposition earlier this week.
"Today Massport approved an untested concept that will cost the airport millions of dollars, likely lead to mass confusion and result in rideshare passengers paying more and getting less," Uber spokesman Harry Hartfield said in a statement. "Time and time again we offered solutions that would have reduced congestion, at almost no cost to the airport, but time and time again the airport refused to consider alternatives."
Campbell Matthews, a spokeswoman for Lyft, said the company was glad that the initial fee proposal was reduced but "remain(s) concerned by many elements of Massport's approach."
The new transportation network company area in the central garage replaces about 1,000 parking spaces, and Massport officials say they plan to offer baggage check, wheelchair assistance and wi-fi. After dropping off passengers, drivers will be able to "rematch" with new customers seeking rides leaving the airport.
Massport officials say the existing $3.25 one-way fee for TNCs is one of the lowest among other large airports in the country and that the new $6.50 total round trip puts Logan in the middle of the pack. All revenue from those fees will be dedicated toward improving "highly occupied" modes of transportation, such as the Logan Express shuttle, which will double its service and add a curbside stop outside North Station.
Although Uber and Lyft representatives expressed frustration that Massport's compromise did not go far enough, the decision drew the opposite criticism from some lawmakers.
Rep. Adrian Madaro, who filed a package of bills aimed at reducing East Boston traffic in part by increasing fees on TNCs beyond the 20-cent-per-ride flat cost imposed in 2016, said the version approved Thursday "renders the plan kind of toothless."
"I was supportive of the originl plan because at the core, it would have resulted in a reduction of the congestion in East Boston by getting at those deadhead trips," Madaro said. "Unfortunately, the compromise plan I see as a watered down version of that original proposal, and I'm pretty disappointed that the Massport board pursued that version."
On Wednesday, speaking with reporters at the State House, Gov. Charlie Baker said he understood the port authority's push to create a central location for ride-hailing company pickups and dropoffs at the airport. He pointed to the "significant number" of ride-hailing trips to and from Logan that do not carry passengers.
"As a result, that's putting somewhere in the vicinity of literally 15 or 16,000 cars a day in and out of the airport, many of which are empty," Baker said. "And what they're trying to do here is connect the people who are leaving the airport from the people who are coming to the airport and strategically I think that's probably a good idea."
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