Independent Drivers Guild Urges Port Authority Not to Pass Unaffordable $10 Airport Fee on Rideshare Trips

Drastic Fee Hike Threatens Income for Thousands of Local Rideshare Drivers, Comes Amid Affordability Crisis for Families
“Reverse Robin Hood” Proposal Would Harm Hardworking Rideshare Drivers, Outer Borough & NJ Residents to Subsidize Manhattan’s Wealthiest

New York, NY — The Independent Drivers Guild (IDG), which represents and advocates for more than 80,000 app-based for-hire vehicle drivers in New York City and 200,000 drivers across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, is calling on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to reject its proposed $5 pick-up and $5 drop-off airport access fees for rideshare trips to take effect March 15, 2026. While rideshare fees would double to $10 per round trip, the plan provides heavy discounts and exemptions for taxis that primarily serve Manhattan for fees that would total only $2.50 per round trip. The Guild warns that the rushed proposal to double rideshare airport fees is unaffordable, inequitable, and economically devastating for hardworking drivers and the communities they serve, especially in outer-boroughs and suburbs. The fee hike amounts to a drastic $71 million single year tax increase, per PANYNJ which plans to vote on the proposal at Thursday’s Board meeting.

IDG officials plan to speak on this issue at the December meeting of the Port Authority Board of Commissioners, scheduled for 12:30 pm Thursday, Dec. 18, at 2 Montgomery Street, Jersey City, N.J. IDG will be on site by 11:30 AM prior to the meeting and available for interview.

Earlier this month, IDG submitted a formal letter of opposition urging the Board of Commissioners to postpone the vote and address the deep injustices embedded in the plan. The policy would effectively create a $10 round-trip tax on working-class families, while continuing to exempt or heavily discount yellow taxi trips that primarily serve Manhattan business travelers and tourists. Private vehicles and company cars would also continue to be exempt, despite making up a significant portion of airport traffic.

“This proposal is nothing short of reverse Robin Hood,” said Brendan Sexton, President of the Independent Drivers Guild, the nation’s largest rideshare driver advocacy group. “It takes from the hardworking rideshare drivers and the local outer-borough and suburban families who rely on Uber and Lyft and gives a free pass to the wealthiest Manhattan business travelers and tourists who benefit from yellow taxi exemptions. Our drivers already operate on razor-thin margins. This $10 fee would push many to the brink.”

“The Port Authority for the largest metropolitan economy on the planet should not be balancing its budget on the backs of struggling rideshare drivers and the communities that depend on us, it should be funded by the wealthiest Manhattan business travelers and tourists.” added Sexton. “We urge the Board to reject this unjust fee and return to the table to create a policy that treats all workers and communities fairly.”

Outer-Borough & NJ Residents, Rideshare Drivers Would Bear the Burden

IDG stressed that yellow taxis—whose airport passengers are disproportionately high-income Manhattan business travelers—would continue paying nothing for drop-offs and far lower fees for pick-ups. Meanwhile, neighborhoods historically neglected by the taxi industry, including the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Yonkers, and much of New Jersey, rely heavily on app-based drivers for airport access.

“Why should a banker closing a deal in Manhattan get a break while a home health aide from the Bronx is forced to pay more?” Sexton asked. “This is a direct tax on where people live—on working families already struggling with high costs.”

“As a New Jersey driver, I serve a lot of riders going to Newark Airport. People here rely on rideshare because taxi coverage is limited. Adding a $10 round-trip fee would push riders away and cut deeply into my earnings. It feels like New Jersey workers and families are being unfairly punished in this decision,” said New Jersey IDG member Miguel Bautista, who has been an Uber driver for three years and is based in Paterson, NJ. 

Threatens Income for Thousands of Local Drivers, Families, Regional Economy

IDG warns that the new fee will force riders to avoid app-based transportation, reducing trip volume and cutting thousands of drivers’ incomes. With operating costs at an all-time high, drivers cannot absorb yet another blow to their earnings.

“Forget living paycheck to paycheck. As a full-time rideshare driver, I am surviving trip to trip. A $10 airport fee isn’t something I can absorb. We already deal with high insurance, gas price and maintenance costs, plus higher taxes and congestion fees than taxis. This proposal would make it even harder to support my family,” said Khalid Khattak, an IDG member and longtime New York City rideshare driver based in Queens.  “Charging rideshare $10 per airport trip while yellow taxis continue to pay little or nothing is fundamentally unfair. Two drivers performing the same service should not be treated so differently.” 

“Forget living paycheck to paycheck. As a full-time rideshare driver, I am surviving trip to trip. A $10 airport fee isn’t something I can absorb. We already deal with high insurance, gas price and maintenance costs, plus higher taxes and congestion fees than taxis. This proposal would make it even harder to support my family,” said Khalid Khattak, an IDG member and longtime New York City rideshare driver based in Queens.  “Charging rideshare $10 per airport trip while yellow taxis continue to pay little or nothing is fundamentally unfair. Two drivers performing the same service should not be treated so differently.” 

IDG’s Formal Demands to the Port Authority

In its December 2 letter, the Independent Drivers Guild called on the Port Authority to:

1. Postpone the December vote to allow meaningful consultation with labor.
2. Establish parity so all for-hire vehicles are treated equally.
3. Stop shifting the financial burden onto working-class rideshare drivers and outer-borough communities.

Current and Proposed Fees

Effective March 15, 2026, Port Authority proposed to drastically increase the airport ground transportation access fees for For-Hire Vehicles servicing NYC area airports, amounting to a $71 million single year increase. Taxis, primarily serving Manhattan, would be remain exempt from drop-off fees and see only a 25 cent increase in pick-up fees under the plan, for a round trip total of $2.50 for taxis  compared to $10 for rideshare.

Source: PANYNJ

See the PANYNJ documents here or the following links for pdf direct download for Proposed Airport Fee Changes and Proposed Changes to Tolls, Fares and Fees.

About the Independent Drivers Guild

The IDG is a nonprofit affiliate of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (Machinists Union), and our organization represents over 400,000 for-hire vehicle drivers in New York State, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida and Illinois. We are Uber and Lyft drivers united for a more fair industry. The Guild’s organizing has secured landmark victories that put billions of dollars in the pockets of drivers, including requiring a tipping option in the Uber app and winning the nation’s first livable minimum wage for rideshare drivers in New York City. The Guild also secured the first restrooms at New York City’s airport ride-hail lots, winning the first porta-potties for FHV drivers at JFK airport in 2017 and running water restroom trailers and prayer space at JFK, LGA and EWR in 2019.

The Drivers Guild and Machinists Union have led the nation in advocating for benefits and protections for FHV drivers. In 1999, the Machinists Union advocated to create the Black Car Fund, establishing a workers’ compensation fund for New York’s for-hire vehicle drivers. In 2016, the Machinists helped drivers form the Independent Drivers Guild which has successfully advocated for and won a series of new protections and benefits through the program, including free vision, dental, health clinics, telemedicine, disability insurance and the Guild’s mental health counseling program, developed specifically for FHV drivers in response to New York’s driver suicide crisis. The IAMAW is the only union to successfully organize black car workers in New York City and has been doing so since the 1990’s.

Learn more at DriversGuild.org and follow us at https://x.com/DrivingGuild

Media contact: moira@drivingguild.org