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Airport ride-sharing advances for Phoenix, Charlotte – but not Boston

Ride-sharing pick-ups at the Phoenix airport should begin this summer. (Image: Phoenix Sky Harbor International)

Ride-sharing pick-ups at the Phoenix airport should begin this summer. (Image: Phoenix Sky Harbor International)

Uber and Lyft continue to make progress in their ongoing battle to secure airport passenger pick-up rights, most recently in Phoenix and in Charlotte. But Boston is proving a tough nut to crack.

The Phoenix City Council this week passed a proposal that will allow ride-sharing companies to make passenger pick-ups at Sky Harbor International Airport. The council has to vote formally once again after a two-month waiting period, but the measure is expected to pass, so that passenger services at PHX can begin sometime this summer. Phoenix will use a special tag or GPS-based system to track vehicle movements at the airport, imposing a fee of $2.75 per ride starting in 2017. Ride-sharing companies have been lobbying the council for many months to win approval, but they got a big boost when Arizona Governor Doug Ducey came out in favor of their effort.

Ride-sharing also formally started this week at North Carolina’s Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, an American Airlines hub. UberX and Lyft now have designated passenger pick-up and drop-off spots at the airport, and rides will incur an extra $1 fee.

But Uber and Lyft were not so fortunate in Massachusetts. There, the state legislature’s Financial Services Committee just approved a bill to regulate ride-sharing companies. The proposal would subject drivers to background checks by both their companies and the state, and would impose insurance requirements on the firms. But according to the Associated Press, the bill would also ban passenger pick-ups at Boston’s Logan Airport at least until 2021. The AP said the latter provision was “a concession to the taxi industry.”

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about:  Should I tip my Uber driver? + Boeing 747 nearing its end? + Bargain hunters travel guide for 2016 + World’s best airline lounge? + Fares to Europe tumble 

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