Starting April 5, 2021, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will charge all for-hire vehicles (FHVs) an access fee for pickups and drop-offs at Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, and John F. Kennedy airports. All FHVs—including app-based services like Uber and Lyft—will be charged $2.50 for each pickup and drop-off. For shared trips (pooled rides of multiple passengers), the charge will be $1.25 for each pickup and drop-off. Taxis will be charged $1.25 for pickups only, increasing to $1.75 beginning on October 1, 2022. This fee, originally approved in 2019, was put on hold until the new April 2021 start date.
The Port Authority is requiring that all FHV base operators sign an FHV Privilege Permit to be able to provide service at the airports. There is a rider to the FHV Privilege Permit for black cars that contains important and notable exceptions for FHVs that are licensed as a black car base, limousine operator, luxury limousine base, or livery base that are not considered high volume for-hire services (i.e., Uber, Lyft, and Via).
Initial Fee, Security Deposit, and Payment of Fees. Under the rider, there is no initial fee for black car bases. However, these bases must pay a security deposit based on the total number of projected airport trips for the next three months. The Port Authority will waive the security deposit requirements if the total number of projected airport trips is fewer than 400.
The access fees must be paid to the Port Authority monthly. However, black car bases that are able show that they rely on non-direct cash payments, such as corporate accounts, may request to make quarterly payments.
Other Obligations. The rider omits the requirements for geo-fencing, the digital driver profile, tracking mobile apps, providing ride request data, and additional insurance coverage—which still apply to high-volume FHVs. Black car drivers must be able to display, on request from airport or law enforcement personnel, a paper or electronic copy of a waybill containing the following information for each trip in progress:
Matt Daus of Windels Marx
- The black car base name and Port Authority-issued permit number;
- Driver name;
- The vehicle’s license plate number, make, and model;
- The on-airport pickup or drop-off location;
- Date and time of on-airport pickup or drop-off; and
- Transaction type (pickup or drop-off).
Thanks to Matt Daus of Windels Marx for providing this breaking information. Daus has made himself available to anyone who has questions (email Daus at mdaus@windelsmarx.com).
[03.30.21]