Your trip to and from the airport could come with a higher price tag next year.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is considering a $1 increase in its “Transportation Network Company fee,” which app-based companies like Uber and Lyft have to pay to pick up and drop off passengers at National Airport and Dulles International Airport. The fee, which would go into effect January 1, 2020, could mean higher prices for riders.
This is the first change in the fee since November 2015, when the airports authority first began allowing ride hailing pick ups and drop offs, according to a presentation on the proposed fee by the MWAA. The current fee is $4 per trip.
The increase is partially prompted by the uptick in traffic from ride-hailing vehicles at area airports, per the MWAA. “Since 2015, [transportation network companies] have grown to millions of annual transactions, adding significant vehicle traffic to the Airports’ roadways,” the authority states in the presentation. “Growth is not slowing—Year-to-Date 2019 has seen a greater year-over-year increase in TNC trips than at the same point in 2018.”
That increase in traffic has led to worse service for customers trying to get to and from the airports, the MWAA says. Both DCA and Dulles have taken actions to reduce congestion, including reducing parking to free up curb space (which has cost National Airport about $1.4 million a year in parking revenue, per the authority).
The full proposal on the fee will be discussed by MWAA at a board meeting on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Uber isn’t too happy about the proposed change. A spokesperson for the company said that it has raised concerns with MWAA on the issue for months, writing in an October letter that customers who use Uber to get to and from the airport already contribute a significant amount to MWAA in the form of the current $4 pick-up and drop-off fees.
“DCA and IAD are going to have among the highest airport fees in the country” with the new increase, an Uber spokesperson tells DCist. The fee would be higher than those at San Francisco International, Los Angeles International, John F. Kennedy International, Boston Logan International, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty International, per the company.
Four of the largest airports in the U.S. reduced their TNC fee proposals recently, Uber said in its letter. New York City initially considered a $4 fee per pick-up and drop-off before adopting a $2.50 fee for all of its airports. Boston’s Logan Airport also reduced its fee proposal from $5 to $3.25 per pick up and drop off.
Lyft, for its part, is also unhappy with the proposed change.
“Increasing rideshare fees, without applying any proposal equitably to all ground transportation services, will make rideshare less affordable for riders and reduce earning opportunities for drivers,” the company says in a statement to DCist. “We are hopeful that MWAA leaders will reexamine the proposed fee increase and identify better solutions for riders, drivers, and airport officials.”
A spokesperson from MWAA declined to comment on the issue before the official board meeting.