Minimum $15.50-fare set to hit taxi customers leaving Bob Hope Airport
Passengers leaving Bob Hope Airport in a taxi soon will have to pay a $15.50 minimum fare, even if they’re going just a few blocks.
Under a plan approved by city traffic commissioners, the minimum fare takes effect Sept. 23 and impacts only those riders who catch a taxi at the airport.
The Burbank Transportation Commission approved the fare in response to taxi drivers who said they were fed up with losing money on short hops to and from the airfield. Many passengers, they say, park in nearby retail parking lots or on city streets and then take a short taxi trip to the airport.
The short trips become a financial burden for taxi drivers, who say they often wait for hours in a queue, only to get a small fare.
‘This is not good for the taxi driver to just collect $10,” said Albert Shamirian, taxi coordinator at the airport.
Taxis originating from the Los Angeles International Airport currently charge $15 minimum fee, plus a $4 surcharge that funds improvements to taxi facilities and dispatch systems at LAX.
The new minimum fare at Bob Hope Airport replaces a rate structure made up of an initial $2.50 charge for the first 1/9 mile or 37 seconds, and 30 cents for each additional 1/9 mile or 37 seconds of wait time or traffic delay. Each ride carries a flat $2.50 gasoline surcharge.
