The LAX board is approving pay raises for companies like Uber, Lyft and others

Your next trip to or from LAX could soon be more expensive if you hail a taxi or turn to a phone app for a ride.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles World Airports board members approved a fee increase for the private transportation companies that pick up and drop off passengers at Los Angeles International Airport. The access fee increase affects companies such as Uber, Lyft, and taxi and limousine companies that operate at the airport.

The funding increase is not scheduled to take effect until the long-awaited automated people mover, known as Skylink, opens in the summer. Airport officials said the rate increase, along with Skylink, is part of a plan to ease congestion inside LAX as passengers try to access the terminals and promote alternatives like Skylink.

But some drivers, passengers and ride-hailing companies are already worried about the prospect of higher fares.

“LA residents should not have to pay more to visit their airport,” said Brandon Bailey, a resident who spoke against the rate hike at Tuesday morning’s meeting. “It’s a tax on workers trying to get home.”

In an email sent to customers on Monday, Uber warned that the proposal “could double the amount you pay for a pickup or drop off.”

But airport officials emphasized that access fees are assessed on companies, not customers or drivers, and pointed out that LAX has not raised its fees since Uber and Lyft began operating there in 2015.

“This is not a tax,” said Commissioner Vanessa Armayo. “This is not something the airport puts on passengers or travelers.”

But drivers and passengers said they expect to get the cost eventually, either through higher fares or lower per-trip fares.

“Usually we hit it,” said Terrence Harden, a ride-hailing driver who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s hard enough at this airport every day.”

Uber and Lyft officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The decision on who pays the increased fees is ultimately up to the companies, said LAWA CEO John Ackerman.

“We cannot control what a private company does to punish consumers, to punish drivers,” he said.

At LAX and other major airports around the world, private transportation companies such as Uber and Lyft, as well as taxis and limousines, are required to obtain permits and operating agreements and pay fees to access airport premises and pick up and drop off customers.

Travelers check their boarding at the LAX-it pick-up area at Los Angeles International Airport.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Uber and Lyft currently pay $4 to pick up passengers at the airport and nothing to drop them off.

Proposed access fees for all private transportation, including complimentary rides, will increase to $12 in the terminal area and $6 in the Skylink area.

In a staff report to the six-member commission, LAWA staff wrote that the fees “no longer reflect the airport’s market value, especially given the multibillion-dollar investment in LAX access, terminals, and other facilities and services.”

The higher fees come as the board looks to modernize LAX ahead of several high-profile events including this summer’s World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics.

With up to 100,000 vehicles traveling through LAX per day, David Reich, senior vice director of Mobility Strategy for Los Angeles World Airports, said the airport needs to find alternatives.

“It’s not sustainable and it hasn’t been for a long time,” Reich said Tuesday. “We’re going to remove a lot of cars.”

Armayo also asked the workers to make a report after six months of the increase in money to ascertain whether the money has been transferred to the drivers and passengers.

These fees would not come into effect until Skylink opens to the public. No official date has been given.

Skylink, which was supposed to open in 2023, has faced a series of delays, many caused by conflicts between the airport and the contractor hired to build it, LAX Integrated Express Solutions.

The train is expected to provide an alternative way for travelers to reach the airport, providing a drop-off location away from the main terminal area and a journey across the airport terminals that would take, at least, nine minutes.

The train is expected to open early this summer and is expected to operate around the clock. LAWA officials estimate that the train will transport about 85 million passengers a year, and insist that a further increase in traffic to the airport is not an option.

The funds are expected to bring up to $100 million in revenue to the airport in the first year after Skylink opens.