Here’s what’s stopping Uber from getting you to Bellingham’s airport, or other Port properties
The Port of Bellingham and the driving service Uber are entangled in a fee dispute that currently means Uber will stop offering rides to the airport and the cruise terminal beginning Saturday, May 1.
Uber sent a letter to the port in February stating that it wants the local agency to reduce its Transportation Network Companies fee rate from $3.50 per pickup and drop off to $1.50 per pickup and no fee for drop off. If that doesn’t happen before May 1, “Uber will no longer be able to operate at Bellingham International Airport, Bellingham Cruise Terminal, and Fairhaven Station,” according to the letter, which was signed by Loren Kosloske, senior strategy and operations manager at Uber Technologies.
The Port of Bellingham’s Aviation Director, Sunil Harman, replied a week later in a letter to Kosloske that he was surprised by the demand, given that fee changes go through a public hearing process. Harman said they would issue a termination notice to no longer allow Uber services on port property.
In an email, Harman said he interpreted the letter from Uber as an ultimatum, bypassing good faith negotiations. He also said Bellingham’s fee is similar to other airports in the region, noting that the Everett and Portland airports charge a $3 pickup/dropoff fee and Seattle offers a daily/weekly/monthly permits per vehicle.
Uber officials disagree, adding that they have met with the airport multiple times to try to come to an agreement. Hart Hartfield, communications manager at Uber, said in an email that compared to other Pacific Northwest airport of similar size to Bellingham, such as Spokane, Boise, Idaho and Eugene Oregon, Bellingham rates are much higher.
“For an airport of its size, Bellingham has the highest fees in the Pacific Northwest,” Hartfield said.
The termination of Uber’s services to port property will be a big blow to drivers and its riders, particularly for those who use Uber to catch flights out of the airport. Kosloske said in his letter to the port that Uber has been used more than 75,000 times in trips to and from port facilities since 2016, generating more than $160,000 in revenue for the port.
Russ Dzialo, who began working for ride-share companies locally three years ago, said the airport was a popular spot for Uber and Lyft drivers before the pandemic and he expects demand to pick up again as people start traveling more. Along with being a convenient way to travel after landing at the airport, ride-share is popular because other modes of transportation such as the train, Greyhound bus and ferry boat are in a different part of town.
Along with being a transportation hub, the Bellingham Cruise Terminal in Fairhaven is also very popular for ride-share vehicles because so many weddings and other events happen there, Dzialo said.
Dzialo, who started with Uber but now works for Lyft, said he thinks the fees are too high because none of it goes toward infrastructure that would help the ride-share drivers. While many airports have a waiting area for ride-share drivers, Uber and Lyft drivers have to wait outside of airport property until they are summoned to pick up someone who has landed at the airport. Typically that means hanging out in nearby parking lots off port property.
If Uber is not allowed on port property for pickup and dropoff, drivers in this gig industry do have other options. As independent contractors, drivers can work for Lyft and Uber at the same time, although it does mean a bit of juggling, Dzialo said. It’s also a way for the drivers to maximize the number of customer choices.
For customers, there’s also public transportation and taxis as options. Taxis do have a designated waiting area at the airport as part of a separate contract with the port. Fares vary based on mileage and other factors, but a check of company websites and fare calculators indicate Uber can be a bit less expensive than a cab. A trip between the Bellingham airport and Bellis Fair, for example, pegs an Uber right at around $16 while taxis can be in the $17 range.
Taxing rider service companies such as Uber and Lyft has increased in recent years, usually as a way for government agencies to raise revenue for mass transit, according to an article posted on governing.com.
The Port says the money collected from the Transportation Network Companies fee is used to offset a variety of costs, including increased administration, security, loss of parking revenue and staff time to patrol illegal parking, Harman said. The current rate is needed for an airport Bellingham’s size, he added.
“Bellingham International Airport does not have the passenger traffic, flights, facility size or infrastructure, and other amenities offered by large and medium-sized hub airports,” Harman said.
