Massport approves driving fee increase for Logan Airport
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The costs of getting to or from Logan International Airport by car, including via Uber and Lyft, will get more expensive this summer.
The costs of getting to or from Logan International Airport by car, including via Uber and Lyft, will get more expensive this summer under a package of fee increases approved by the Massachusetts Port Authority that are intended to raise $1.1 billion over five years.
Fees for Uber and Lyft pickups and drop-offs at the airport will rise $2.25 per trip in a few months, part of an effort to incentivize people to use public transit or shuttle services to get to and from Logan and to generate new funding to improve airport roadways and infrastructure.
The package that the Massport Board unanimously embraced also hikes the costs of taxi and limo pickups at Logan, airport employee parking, and parking at both the central and economy facilities.
Massport CEO Rich Davey described the final fee increases, which are lower than originally proposed for ride-hailing services, as a "Goldilocks, just right" approach.
"Over the next few years, we're going to continue to focus on improving the customer experience, particularly as it relates to ground transportation. That is the challenge for us," Davey said. "We expect to have growth here at Logan Airport. The question will be, how do we get people to and from in a way that's both environmentally friendly and doesn't clog our roadways?"
A Massport spokesperson said the combination of fee increases is forecast to generate $1.1 billion in revenue toward the five-year capital plan covering fiscal years 2025 through 2029. Officials are eyeing a suite of work using that money, including construction of a new garage for Terminal E, deployment of "remote terminals" for Logan Express users, and roadway rehabilitation.
Starting July 1, the per-trip fee for an Uber or Lyft pickup or drop-off will rise from $3.25 to $5.50. Massport officials originally floated fee increases that would eventually push the per-trip charge to $7.50 or higher, but the companies aggressively fought that idea, including with a public ad campaign funded by Uber.
On Wednesday afternoon, less than a day before the scheduled vote, Massport announced a deal with Uber and Lyft that limited the fee increases to the one-time change. The companies both agreed to work on launching "urban high-occupancy vehicle" services similar to what they offer between LaGuardia Airport and Manhattan, and to resume offering shared rides at Logan by the end of the year.
"That's one vehicle with multiple parties in that vehicle, so picking up two different parties in that same vehicle. Again, our goal is to move more passengers in fewer vehicles," said Massport Aviation Business and Finance Director Dan Gallagher. "I believe Lyft had suspended that service a few years ago corporately. Lyft has made the commitment to starting that up again at Logan, and then Uber, the same thing. Uber does operate shared rides at different airports throughout the U.S. We want them operating it at Logan, and they have made that commitment."
Massport officials said the agreement will "defer" about $300 million in capital improvements the quasi-public agency sought to make with revenue from the original fee proposal.
Under the deal, Massport "will be piloting a limited number of curbside pick up/drop off options to some products," according to agency spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan, who added there is "no change to regular pick up/drop off."
Representatives for the app-based ride companies have previously argued it is unfair that drivers must drop off and pick up passengers in a central garage location, while private drivers -- who do not face additional fees -- can directly access the curb outside terminals.
Fees will also increase this summer, and again in fiscal year 2028, for limo pickups, taxi pickups, employee parking, terminal and economy parking for travelers.
Once the multi-year changes are complete, those costs will land at $7.50 for a limo pickup, $5.50 for a taxi pickup, $275 per month for Logan employee parking, a maximum of $51 per day for terminal parking and a maximum of $42 per day for economy parking.
Officials did not change fees on many public transit and shared modes of travel to the airport, including Logan Express fares.
Travel volumes at Logan have been steadily increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic, and officials expect the roughly 43.5 million passengers in 2024 to jump to about 53 million over the next 10 to 15 years.
That growth could bring 13,000 more vehicles per day to the airport, according to Gallagher.
"It will only get worse as we see increased passenger volumes if we don't invest in the necessary infrastructure and HOV services," Gallagher said.
Apps are the largest source of transportation to Logan, representing about 30% of airport passengers, Gallagher said.
"I'm pretty sure that nobody on this board wants to raise fees. Nobody likes to do that, nobody enjoys that. I know I don't," said board member John Nucci. "But to do nothing right now could be a disaster waiting to happen. It's almost irresponsible not to do what's needed here today to raise these fees for so many reasons having to do with Logan and the Authority in general."
While Uber and Lyft executives praised the deal Wednesday evening, some drivers on the platforms and labor leaders who represent them told Massport officials they felt left out of the process.
"These developments were shaped without the input of drivers, the people who will be hit the hardest by TNC fees. Uber and Lyft drivers move thousands of passengers in and out of Logan every day," said Mike Vartabedian, a labor leader who spoke on behalf of the App Drivers Union. "For these drivers, airport fees are a critical source of income. The proposed TNC fee could be a crushing financial blow to drivers who already struggle to get by."
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