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LA City Council to consider Uber, other ride shares at LAX
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 26: Traffic approaches LAX as people travel to Thanksgiving holiday destinations on November 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Travel experts are forecasting LAX to be the busiest airport in the nation during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period as more than 1.97 million passengers are expected to use the airport. This would be a 4.8 percent increase over the 1.82 million last year, which made LAX the busiest in 2013 as well. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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LA City Council to consider Uber, other ride shares at LAX
The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to review last month's decision by the Airport Commission to allow ride share services to pick up passengers at LAX.
Councilmembers Paul Krekorian and Paul Koretz spearheaded the move, citing concerns that ride share drivers are not fingerprinted as taxi drivers must be.
Koretz called ride share companies "bandit cabs with apps," and said he doesn't want to reward them by allowing them access to LAX, a more lucrative place for drivers to pick up passengers.
The council voted Wednesday to "assert jurisdiction" on the issue - invoking an infrequently used power to overturn actions of city commissions. It now goes to a committee August 18. The full Council will vote on whether to reject the Airport Commission's decision in following weeks.
Councilman Mike Bonin, whose district includes LAX was one of two to vote against the motion.
"The conversation should be about passengers not the industries," he said at the meeting.
Many passengers already use ride sharing services from LAX, but must take a shuttle bus outside the bounds of the airport before requesting a ride.
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Last month the Airport Commission announced it would offer permits to companies like Uber and Lyft to pick up passengers. They would have to charge a $4 fee and wait in a holding lot, just like cabs currently do.
If the City Council votes to toss out the policy, the Commission will have the option of rewriting its plan and resubmitting it to City Council for approval.
This story has been updated.
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