People who take taxis and hail rides to and from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) are likely to pay more for their journeys from summer 2026. Board members at the airport have voted to raise the hub’s charges to commercial vehicle operators, and that increase will probably be passed on to passengers.
Fees for rideshare firms such as Uber, Lyft and others cost around $4 per trip, but are set to go up 50% to $6, or 200% to hit $12 for trips beginning or terminating directly at the airport’s terminals. The business-to-business levy will be the same whether the company is a private limousine rental or a cab-hailing firm. It is unlikely the firms will absorb the cost themselves, meaning passengers will pay the price.
The move comes as Los Angeles prepares for the launch of SkyLink, an electric train system that it is hoped will significantly cut congestion around the airport. The hike in charges for private limousine and taxi operators, Ubers, and Lyfts is part of the airport’s strategy to encourage people to switch from individual vehicle transport to SkyLink, when it finally comes into operation after a two-year delay.
The SkyLink system will run on elevated tracks, covering 3.6km and serving six stations, three in the Central Terminal Area and three outside, including the LAX Economy Parking, the Airport Connector station and the LAX Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) facility.
During peak hours (9:00 am to 11:00 am), nine four-car sets will operate, each with a 200-passenger capacity. The service boasts a two-minute interval between trains during rush hours and a top speed of 75.6 km per hour; the total journey duration will be only 10 minutes end-to-end (from the ConRAC to the West CTA Station). Other features designed to make passengers’ journeys easier include wide train doors with level boarding, and each car offering 12 seats, and spacious luggage capacity.
Operating 24/7, the so-called “Automated People Carrier” will be completely free of charge for passengers in possession of air tickets and anyone accompanying them, as well as airport employees. Up to 30 million riders are predicted to use the system annually, slashing daily vehicle kilometres by more than 188,000.
The rideshare firms that will be impacted are, unsurprisingly, critical of the new charges that will be applied to their airport journeys. A spokesperson for Uber has said the levies will be triple the US airport pickup average. Its analysis shows its drivers will lose around $4,000 in lost earnings per year, and that costs will “pass directly onto all travelers.”
Lyft has focused on the way the charges were voted on by the airport board, which it says was undemocratic because stakeholders were excluded. “Lyft supports goals to reduce congestion… however, this fee was publicly introduced and passed on the same day and should have included the voices of rideshare drivers and riders from the beginning.”
The airport, however, has highlighted that the charges apply not to individuals but to firms, who have a choice how to absorb that cost. “This is not a tax,” said the Vice President of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, Vanessa Aramayo, insisting: “This is not something that the airport is putting on passengers or travelers.” Airport authorities also noted that their fees for Uber and Lyft operations have not been increased in over a decade.
