The Los Angeles City Council voted on Aug. 25 to allow ride-hailing services including UberX and Lyft to pick up passengers at the Los Angeles International Airport, which will be the biggest one in the United States to allow such a practice.
The vote, which went 9-6, affirmed the action made in June by the local airport commission, as some of the members of the city council expressed concerns about that decision and decided to open a review process. However, votes did not reach the 10 needed to veto the decision.
The proposal for allowing ride-hailing services into LAX to pick up passengers has been fiercely opposed by taxi companies and their drivers, which have faced new competition from the service and have been lobbying against them across many regions and countries.
According to the taxi drivers, they need to undergo background checks such as fingerprinting, but UberX and Lyft drivers do not have to go through the procedure. This was voted upon by the council, with the result leading to the request to the City Attorney's Office to look into possibly fingerprinting drivers from ride-hailing services.
However, Mayor Eric Garcetti and some of the city's officials see ride-hailing services as a valuable tool, with UberX and Lyft already previously allowed to drop off their passengers at LAX.
The proposal only covers the UberX service of Uber, which allows regular drivers with their personal vehicles to pick up passengers. The vote of the council will not apply to UberBlack and UberSUV, as the drivers of these services are already commercially licensed and are already allowed to pick up passengers from LAX.
A part of the proposal, however, requires the establishment of a geofence using GPS technology which will prevent Uber and Lyft drivers from simply parking at locations near LAX to receive requests for pickups much easier. Uber and Lyft will have to show that they would be able to work with the geofence system before the ride-hailing services can begin to pick up passengers at the LAX, a process which would take weeks.
"This agreement is a big win for passengers, by giving them more safe and convenient options to get home from the airport," said Councilman Mike Bonin in a statement. Bonin is the representative of the neighborhoods located near LAX.
