People who use ride-hailing companies like Uber will see an increase in their fare when they go to the airport in the Triad.
The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority approved a deal to charge the company a small fee of $1.50 so the airport can use the money to pay for its roads, parking decks and other infrastructure.
PTAA Executive Director Kevin Baker said ride-sharing services need to pay for what they use.
“They use a lot of the infrastructure, obviously, that has been constructed over the years to provide access to the public and as a result, they should be paying their fair share of that,” he said.
The fee, which charges the Uber driver each time they pick up or drop someone off on airport grounds, will go into effect Jan.1.
A report from the National Academies Press reports that fewer people park their cars at airports and use taxis or rental cars from airports.
Baker agrees. He said he’s seen “hits” to PTI’s parking decks and rental car fees.
“In this case, Uber is another similar user just like a taxi so then them having the fair share of the cost is completely fair,” he said.
Normally the parking fees and taxi fees to help offset infrastructure costs to make sure the public can use them.
“It's a large expense to take care of those kinds of things and every vehicle that uses them does a minute amount of damage to them overtime,” Baker said.
The fee shouldn't be noticeable to passengers.
