New charges proposed for airport taxis, shuttles, Uber

Wichita’s airport chief on Tuesday proposed charging new fees for taxis, shuttles and Uber drivers to transport people to and from Wichita Eisenhower National Airport.

Airport Director Victor White gave the City Council a proposed fee schedule that would charge transportation operators 50 cents to $4 a trip, depending on the size of the vehicle they use.

“That seems to be the fairest way to do it,” because larger vehicles put more pressure on airport facilities, White said.

White estimated commercial transportation services and hotel courtesy shuttles generate about 62,500 trips a year.

The fees he’s proposing would generate about $43,000 a year, he said.

That’s about one-fourth of the $160,000 the airport pays in debt payments and maintenance for the special lanes used by hotel shuttles and for-profit transportation services, he said.

At present, none of them are paying anything, White said.

In the past, taxi companies paid $100 a month and limousine services, including airport shuttles, paid $50 a month, he said.

Those charges were suspended last spring to comply with federal airport grant rules requiring that all transportation operators be treated fairly, he said.

The airport can track commercial transportation usage using electronic tagging of vehicles. That includes Uber, a service that uses private drivers operating their personal vehicles, he said.

Uber’s proposed per-trip fee is higher than taxis because the company already agreed to it contractually and it is significantly less than the company pays for access to most airports.

In addition, he said, Uber doesn’t pick up and drop off passengers in the regular commercial transport lane, instead relying on dedicated parking spaces.

White acknowledged that Uber drivers are “on the honor system” as far as carrying their tags, but added “We feel pretty comfortable that they’re not ripping us off.”

The new fees would take effect Jan. 1 if the plan receives council approval, he said.

Some council members questioned whether the airport should charge hotels for their courtesy shuttles, which have traditionally enjoyed free access to the airport.

Assistant Airport Director Brad Christopher said he had met with hotel operators and most thought the proposed fees are “very reasonable.” White said many of the hotels are part of chains that are used to paying a lot higher fees at other airports.

Mayor Jeff Longwell said that’s not what he’s hearing.

“That’s quite different from the folks I’ve talked to,” he said. “They said it’s very unreasonable.”

White conceded “No one’s begging us to charge them.”

But he said it is in keeping with the airport’s ongoing policy that all businesses that profit from using the airport have to help pay some of the cost.

“From a sense of fairness and fair play, we feel we have to do it,” he said.

The proposed fee structure is:

▪ 50 cents for taxis with a seating capacity of one to seven people.

▪ 75 cents for Uber, the only online ride-hailing service currently operating at the airport. That fee was negotiated with the company when it contracted to operate at the airport.

▪ $1 for 8-15 passenger vehicles.

▪ $4 for buses that can carry more than 15 people.

This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 12:10 PM with the headline "New charges proposed for airport taxis, shuttles, Uber."