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One More Shot to Say "No" to Phoenix Airport Ride-share Fee Hike

October 24, 2019

Phoenix residents have one more chance to stop a fee hike that would make its airport ride-share fees among the highest in the world.

On October 16, the Phoenix City Council passed a 200% fee increase on all ride-share users coming to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. They did this amongst backlash from the public and are using this exorbitant fee to pay roughly 80% of the costs to operate the Sky Train. Both ride-share users and operators spoke against the proposition. Despite this, the measure passed by a vote of 7 to 2, with only Councilmen Sal DiCiccio and Jim Waring voting against it.

But fortunately, the public gets another opportunity to voice its opposition to this outrageous money-grab by the City. Due to an administrative error by the Phoenix City Council, the October 16 vote was not properly noticed to the public. Because of this mistake, the Council must re-notice and conduct a second vote on the proposal, now scheduled for December 18, 2019.

Currently, when you take a ride-share from Sky Harbor, you pay a $2.66 pick-up fee that goes to the airport. However, Sky Harbor now wants to immediately increase the pick-up fee to $4 and create an additional drop-off fee of $4, brining your total fees to $8 in addition to the cost of the trip itself starting January 1, 2020. In additional to the creation of a new pick-up fee and increase in the current drop-off fee, Sky Harbor wants both fees to increase every year. Under this proposed plan, by 2024 you will have to pay a $10 fee minimum just to get to and from Sky Harbor, on top of the normal trip charges. From 2025 on, these airport ride-share fees will be tied to inflation and will automatically increase each year, without a new vote by the Phoenix City Council. These proposed fees will make Sky Harbor’s ride-share fees among the most expensive not just in the U.S., but globally.

In a tweet earlier this week, Councilman Sal DiCiccio addressed the notice issue and re-vote: “What does [the Phoenix City Council’s] mistake mean for you? It means you will have one more shot at letting the politicians in City Hall hear your voice”. 

Contact the Phoenix City Council before December 18, 2019, and ask them to keep ride-sharing affordable HERE.

Jenna Bentley is the Director of Government Affairs at the Goldwater Institute.

 

 

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