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Long Beach Airport isn’t ready to give Uber and Lyft a green light

A driver displays Lyft and Uber stickers on his front windshield in downtown Los Angeles.
(Richard Vogel / Associated Press)
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Car-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft can pick up and drop off fliers at most major airports in Southern California, but the city of Long Beach isn’t ready to allow such drivers to pick up at the Long Beach Airport.

In a meeting last week, the Long Beach City Council was set to consider a nine-month pilot program to let Uber, Lyft and other car-hailing services pick up travelers at the Long Beach Airport.

Instead of adopting the motion, the Long Beach council voted unanimously to ask city administrators to delay the proposal for 90 days to get the input of cab companies, car rental firms and the public.

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For now, car services can drop off customers at any airport but must enter into an agreement with the airports to pick up travelers at the terminals.

Car-hailing companies have reached such agreements with Los Angeles International Airport, John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and San Diego International Airport.

At other airports, car-hailing companies pay a fee to pick up and drop off passengers, ranging from $2.25 to $4 per trip. Long Beach officials proposed a $3 pickup and dropoff fee for the temporary program.

Councilwoman Stacy Mungo proposed the 90-day delay, saying in an interview later that she didn’t want to rush the proposal and wanted to give residents a chance to ask questions about it. “We don’t want to make it a confusing agreement,” she said.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.

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