World’s most expensive Uber could soon be at LAX — as riders brace for 140% price hike

Getting to the airport may soon become a lot more expensive — and it has nothing to do with gas.

Los Angeles International Airport is weighing a plan that could jack up fees for Uber, Lyft and taxis, potentially adding new charges to rides in and out of the busy travel hub.

Under a proposal headed to the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Tuesday, airport officials want to introduce a $6 base access fee for rideshare drivers, taxis and other commercial vehicles entering LAX — the first major adjustment to the fee structure in about a decade.

Drivers who want to pull up directly to the airport’s crowded terminal curbs could face an additional $6 charge, bringing the total to $12 per pickup or drop-off inside the Central Terminal Area. That means someone now paying $10 in fees, round trip, would pay $24, or 140% more.

Under the current plan, riders pay $4 to $5 access fees.

“A 140% fee hike with no transparency or public process is indefensible,” Danielle Lam, Uber’s head of local California policy, said in a statement to the LA Daily News. “Raising the LAX rideshare fee from $5 to $12 at the curb would punish travelers, working families, and seniors who depend on affordable, reliable transportation. Uber supports improving LAX, but not on the backs of the people who keep it running.”

Airport officials say the hike is overdue, arguing that the current fees haven’t changed in 10 years despite billions of dollars poured into massive upgrades at LAX. The proposal is also being billed as a way to “manage congestion” and encourage the use of the airport’s long-delayed automated people mover, which is expected to be operational by the second half of this year. The people mover is an electric train that will take people between terminals, parking garages, a car rental hub and the Metro rail system in just 10 minutes.

But construction has stalled repeatedly, having started in 2019, airport officials say that the rail won’t be ready until the second half of 2026 — likely after the FIFA World Cup in June — according to reporting from the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Despite the project reportedly being 95% complete, the holdup seems to be happening behind the scenes, bogged down by disputes between Los Angeles World Airports and LINXS, the joint venture contractor consortium.

When it does eventually open, LAX anticipates that 30 million passengers will ride it per year, and reduce the amount of cars by an estimated 117,000.

By charging more for curbside pickups, airport commissioners hope to push rideshare drivers toward designated pickup areas connected to the train, easing the notorious traffic gridlock that often clops the airport loop.

The new pricing structure could also become a major revenue generator, projected to bring in an estimated $100 million annually.

“Just as LA is looking to put its best foot forward ahead of the World Cup and 2028 Olympics, the airport is instead trying to make coming to LA even less affordable,” Uber wrote in a March 7 email to customers. “A change like this that raises costs for millions of travelers deserves transparency and a meaningful public process, not just days notice and a forced vote.”

The base fee could kick in within 30 days of approval, while the higher curbside charge would begin once the airport’s automated train system opens.

The fee hike is not the only proposal the board is weighing that could impact visitors.

Another proposal up for a vote would crack down on the number of taxis and ride-hail pickups at the curb outside the airport’s busiest terminals. An airport staff report says companies like Uber and Lyft generate nearly 30,000 trips a day into the crowded Central Terminal Area.