NAPITA Submits Statement in Opposition to H.B. 2817
NAPITA Submits Statement in Opposition to H.B. 2817
Bill Under Consideration in Arizona House Distorts Free-Market by Eliminating Fees Exclusively on TNCs but not all Ground Transportation Providers at Sky Harbor
PHOENIX, AZ, February 17, 2020 – Today, the Arizona State House of Representatives will hold a hearing on H.B. 2817, a bill to amend current transportation network company (TNC) regulatory law to prohibit any airport in the state of Arizona from imposing airport fees on TNCs. The Near Airport Parking Industry Trade Association (NAPITA), an association of national parking operators dedicated to providing dependable and affordable travel options that improve the customer experience at major American airports, submitted the following statement to the Arizona State Legislature Committee on Regulatory Affairs in opposition to the legislation:
“If a commercial operator chooses to engage in activity on airport property, or at the airport curb in the case of ground transportation providers, they should be willing to pay their fair share of costs associated with the provision of that space in order to ensure that world class infrastructure, safety, and efficiency are all afforded to users. In other words, no one commercial ground transportation operator should get a free ride to the detriment of all other users.
“As part of the off-airport parking industry and the ground transportation community in Phoenix, our members actively participated in the rigorous and extensive benchmarking study with Sky Harbor over the past year and a half. We can honestly say that throughout the course of that benchmarking study and discussions thereafter, the airport staff and their consultants were trying in good faith to understand the best practices of other airports around the country and actively listened to concerns from the ground transportation community. Yes, we all would have appreciated if there had been more detailed discussions around the airport’s ground transportation costs and the specific allocations amongst the various types of ground transportation providers. However, the resulting fee structure was not, in our opinion, punitive or targeted, it merely took into consideration the extensive use of the airport infrastructure by certain types of providers. To weight the scale in favor of one type of ground transportation industry in the way that this proposed legislation does is anti-competitive, unfair, unreasonable and does nothing to encourage participation in the free market by those other industries and ground transportation providers who are willing to pay their fair share.
“If the underlying policy goal of this legislation is, as some Members have stated, to ensure that transportation options at Arizona’s airports are affordable and accessible, then HB 2817 doesn’t go nearly far enough. If that is truly the aim, then everyone should get a free ride at the airport – like private passenger vehicles currently do. That is a dangerous precedent for this state to head down. We don’t think that picking a winner from the free market is the intent or the goal of this legislature so we respectfully request that you seriously consider what the goal is. We oppose HB 2817 in its current form and hope you will too.”
Background:
Late last year, the Phoenix City Council approved the recommendations of the Phoenix Airport Advisory Board following the conclusion of a comprehensive, industry-inclusive, multi-year benchmarking study looking at ground transportation fees for access to Phoenix Sky Harbor. The rebased fees assessed on ground transportation operators to help offset the cost of ground transportation on airport infrastructure and are indexed to accurately reflect curb utilization at the airport. NAPITA supports the process and the results of the benchmarking study and believes it should be a model country-wide for a federal stakeholder working group. This group would provide the venue necessary to understand and address the issues facing the airport curb, leveraging the expertise of our membership, the federal government, and airport operators to craft transportation policy that best serves the traveling public.
NAPITA represents national and local near-airport parking operators and their 12,000+ employees from across the country. NAPITA’s mission is to partner with airports and other stakeholders in the aviation industry to ensure safe, efficient, and equitable access to their airport curb for off-airport parking operators and to increase the role ground transportation plays in the broader air travel industry and the overall experience for air travelers.
NAPITA will continue to advocate for the industry and the vital role it plays within the broader air travel industry.