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Finally, Lyft Can Pick Up Passengers From LAX Starting Wednesday
The drop-off and pick-up areas at LAX. Lyft will begin picking up arrivals from the airport on Wednesday, but will have to pick them up upstairs in from the departures area (Photo by Rainer_UMC via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
It has been a long time coming: finally, Lyft can pick you up from LAX.On Tuesday, the office of Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that Lyft would be the first ridesharing service that will be allowed to pick up passengers from LAX, effective at 8 a.m., Wednesday morning. Although it comes many, many months after the mayor's promise to have them picking up passengers by the summer, at least it comes just as the holiday travel season gets into full swing.
For now, Lyft is "excited to be the exclusive ride-share option" of LAX, spokeswoman Chelsea Wilson told the L.A. Times. Uber has not yet received approval to pick up passengers. "We're really excited that L.A. travelers will now be able to get a Lyft ride to and from LAX," she added.
Unlike most arrivals at LAX, Lyft users will have to walk upstairs to the departures level in order to get picked up by a driver. After hailing a ride on the app, users will then follow signs marked "ride service" to the upper level where a driver will be waiting for them. A $4 fee for each pickup and drop-off will be charged to Lyft by the airport, and that cost will likely be passed on to the user.
Although one of the holdups was the concern that Lyft and Uber drivers did not undergo the same background checks as taxi drivers, the City Council ultimately decided not to change the rules.
The L.A. Times report did not say when Uber would be allowed to pick up passengers from LAX.