State Panel OKs 2 Van Operators in LAX Plan

A state regulatory panel Thursday cleared away most hurdles hindering efforts by Los Angeles International Airport to restrict shuttle van operations at the nation’s third-busiest airport.

The state Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to grant authorization allowing Prime Time Shuttle and Xpress Shuttle to be among three full-service passenger van companies allowed to troll the airport for walk-up customers.

The PUC’s decision clears the way for LAX to begin implementation of its hotly contested shuttle program May 1, said Ken Koss, who oversees regulation of shuttle van operations for the PUC. Airport officials could not be reached for comment.

Under the plan, only three full-service carriers--Xpress, Prime Time and SuperShuttle, which received PUC approval in December--will be given permanent curb space at LAX. Four long-distance carriers also will be allowed to operate inside the airport, where more than three dozen companies now compete for passengers. Once implemented, the plan will still allow other shuttle operators to drop off passengers and pick up only those with reservations.

Many mom-and-pop companies have vocally opposed the plan, claiming it will put them out of business.

LAX said the reduction is necessary to improve service, boost ridership and cut down on congestion and pollution at the air terminal.

Xpress, which was awarded only temporary approval Thursday, must still obtain final authorization from the panel once the state-mandated time limit to protest its application expires in June.

Thursday’s action, for the most part, marks the culmination of LAX’s four-year effort to reconfigure a vital chunk of its ground transportation offerings that had been steadily losing ridership. Some airport officials say passengers have been turned off by lousy service, cutthroat tactics and shoddy equipment of some operators.

So impatient are LAX officials to launch the new program that in March, the airport oversight panel voted to tinker with the shuttle concession contracts awarded Prime Time and Xpress to effectively bypass the PUC if the state panel had not issued its permits by May 1.