Can I Uber or Lyft after I land? It's complicated. Here's your airport cheat sheet

Source: LA TIMES

By BRIAN SUMERS Uber Travel Los Angeles International Airport Dulles International Airport London Heathrow Airport O'Hare International Airport BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport

If all goes as planned, travelers soon may be able to summon ride-share providers such as UberX and Lyft to take them home after they deplane at Los Angeles International Airport.

For passengers, that’s great news—at least, financially speaking. A cab from LAX to downtown can cost $50 or more without tip.

Ride-share market leaders Uber and Lyft charge closer to $30 for the same trip, except during periods of high demand when they cost more, sometimes considerably more, a phenomenon Uber calls “surge pricing.”

But ride sharing, becoming an an issue in the presidential campaign along with other sharing economy issues, is not such great news for cab drivers and taxi companies, which now have a near-monopoly at LAX, van-shared rides aside.

The change could occur as soon as September.

For now, drivers can drop off passengers anywhere at LAX, but they can’t pick up passengers.

Under current LAX rules, only professional taxi and livery drivers can collect passengers for money.

Uber does have a business segment that dispatches professional drivers, but that service is more expensive than UberX.

But what about elsewhere? Here’s a quick guide for airports in the Southland, elsewhere in the U.S. and a few overseas. Below the chart are details from each of those airports that explain why the rules and regulations are as they are.

For the rest of the article and an airport guide click here.