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Massport wants big hike in rideshare fees for Logan pickups and drop-offs
Proposed price increases would add a $15 fee to roundtrip trips to the airport in July 2027, raising it from its current rate of $6.50.
Riders could soon have to pay additional fees on Uber and Lyft rides to or from Logan International Airport.
The Massachusetts Port Authority currently charges rideshare apps a $3.25 fee for pickups and drop-offs at Logan. The plan, outlined at a Massport Board meeting Wednesday, would raise the fee to $5.50 in July, and to $7.50 in July 2027.
Since Uber and Lyft add the fees onto users’ fares, riders could expect to spend an extra $15 on each roundtrip ride to and from the airport.
Massport said the increased fees are part of an “overall strategic ground transportation plan” of “both capital and operating investments.”
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Planned improvements to Logan Airport by Massport include upgrading Logan Express stations and adding electric vehicle charging stations.
“Any changes in transportation fees would be intended to fund those investments,” said Jennifer Mehigan, a spokesperson for the agency.
The proposal was first introduced to the Audit and Finance Committee and the Facilities and Construction Committee in a joint meeting Wednesday, and briefly discussed in a meeting of the full Board Thursday. The Board is expected to vote on the proposal next month.
Massport has not changed its fees in six years, since it added a $3.25 drop-off fee in 2019 to match its $3.25 pickup fee.
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Though ride app surcharges are commonplace at airports around the country, $7.50 would be the highest fee added at any airport. Orlando International Airport currently has the most expensive added fee for pickups at $7.
Last year was Logan’s busiest ever, seeing more than 43 million passengers in 2024. And almost 13 million of them used a ride app, Mehigan said.
“As passengers increase at Logan, we expect even more to use Ride Apps,” Mehigan said. “We need to continue to improve our infrastructure to handle the demand.”
The proposal would also raise taxi pickup fees from their current rate of $2.25 to $3.50 in July and then $5.50 in July 2027. Employee parking, terminal and economy parking, passport gold parking, and limo pickups would also become more expensive.
Josh Gold, Uber’s senior director of public policy and communications, said at the Thursday meeting that while “Uber fully supports multi-modal projects…Massport has excluded rideshare from this process, and that lack of collaboration is a missed opportunity.”
Mehigan said Massport has had “ongoing discussions with both Uber and Lyft” about the proposal and that “they were made aware that there was going to be a discussion yesterday.”
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Beyond the supposed lack of collaboration, Gold criticized Massport for keeping Logan one of the few major airports that denies curb access and prioritizing personal vehicles, “incentivizing the least efficient mode of transportation.” He said the agency should “be working with rideshare, not against it.”
“We urge the Board to direct Aviation to engage rideshare meaningfully over the next several months to develop a solution that is fair, effective, and future-focused,” Gold said.
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