Why Uber ‘Black’ drivers face tickets for some pickups at Atlanta airport

That’s because, according to the companies, state law classifies these drivers separately as “limousines.” Uber and Lyft direct “Black” rides to meet pickup passengers curbside as a result.

But in recent months, according to drivers and company officials, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been ticketing drivers for doing just that.

The airport argues that, per city ordinances, limousine rides can only count as those booked more than one hour in advance.

But as anyone who has ever called an Uber knows, that’s not often how trips on the app are booked.

The upshot of the dispute is rideshare drivers looking over their shoulders to avoid airport traffic enforcement — and even canceling rides if they spot an officer at the domestic or international terminal — in order to avoid the threat of hundreds of dollars in tickets.

It’s also leaving unsuspecting passengers confused.

Candice Joseph has been a ride-hailing driver for years but joined Uber and Lyft Black a few months ago.

Last month she was trying to pick up a passenger curbside at the international terminal — as the app directed her — when an officer stopped her, even though she said she has limo plates from the state and a limo decal from the airport.

The officer asked to look at her phone, to see if she was using an app. When she showed him that indeed she was, the officer told her she wasn’t allowed to pick up passengers there.

“So I’m like, ‘OK, where are the passengers supposed to go?’”

Her passenger even tried to plead the case on her behalf, she recalled: “He was asking, ‘What is the problem? She has the qualifications, why are you guys making it a big deal? Where is she supposed to go?’”

Joseph said after their protests — and after she started crying in frustration — she was let go with a warning. “I’m a single mom, I can’t risk getting a ticket. This is how I make a living. This is my full-time job.”

Now, Joseph says she avoids airport pickups, even though the passengers, mostly business travelers, are “wonderful” and tip well.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

The dispute

In Georgia and at the Atlanta airport, “Uber is authorized to refer rider demand to limousine operators” and pick up curbside, Uber’s director of public affairs, Javi Correoso said in a statement.

But airport spokesman Andrew Gobeil initially said in a statement last week, “Uber Black drivers are not permitted to pick up passengers curbside.”

On Monday, in response to follow-up questions, Gobeil clarified that “limousines (including Uber Black vehicles), when properly registered and credentialed with the Airport” are indeed allowed to pick up curbside, “but must follow airport regulations — including the requirement that prior arrangements for pickup must be made not less than one hour prior to the time the service is rendered.”

“Failure to comply with these regulations may result in citations and fines. These regulations are designed to maintain safety and security and manage roadway congestion at the Airport,” he said.

City code does, indeed, state that airport limousine pickups count as those arranged more than one hour in advance.

But in a November letter to airport leadership about the issue, Uber’s head of airport partnerships Quinn Hatoff argued this local ordinance is “outdated” and preempted by Georgia law.

While Georgia airports have jurisdiction to issue their own layer of limousine permitting and fees, Hatoff argued the law mandates the “operation of limousine carriers be regulated at the state level.”

“Therefore,” he said, “(the airport’s) continued reliance of Atlanta city ordinances to regulate Uber Black operations at ATL is improper.”

Based on conversations with Hartsfield-Jackson, he added, Uber believes the airport is mistakenly asserting that “Black” rides are technically “ride share trips” when they are actually “a luxury line of business that is separate from the Uber ‘ride share service.’”

CJ Macklin, a Lyft spokesman, told the AJC they are “aware of the issue facing drivers at Hartsfield-Jackson and believe the airport is wrong by ticketing them.”

“We are actively engaged with officials on the matter and advocating for a resolution as quickly as possible.”

According to an image of one citation reviewed by the AJC, the violation was written up as “driver proceeded to pickup here at the airport with a Limousine tag working on the rideshare platform.”

The airport did not reply to a question about whether that policy had changed anytime recently, given that drivers interviewed by the AJC said the problem began only in recent months.

Correoso said Uber hasn’t been able to quantify the problem, but estimated they’ve received “closer to dozens” of driver complaints.

Jeff Greene, president of the Greater Atlanta Limousine Association which represents limo and bus companies, told the AJC that his understanding is that state law allows a “carve out” for airports to regulate limousines on their property — contrary to Uber and Lyft’s arguments.

He echoed the airport’s statement that per city regulations, limousines must be “pre-arranged pickups.” Simultaneously, he noted that limousines are not allowed in the normal UberX area.

When asked where, then, Uber and Lyft Black cars are allowed to pick up, he said: “Well, that’s a problem. As far as the airport goes, that’s the regulation there.”

Uber historically built its business nationwide before there were any regulations of the nascent ride-hailing industry. The absence of relevant laws sometimes put drivers in the middle when authorities ticketed them for allegedly operating outside the law.

But the company in 2015 pushed to pass a Georgia law to preempt local ordinances and establish state governance of the new industry.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Looking over their shoulders

Anja Holthoff, who’s been driving Uber Black in Atlanta for several years, told the AJC the bottom line is that drivers “have to basically look over our shoulder” for enforcement officers.

“If somebody’s there, you do an extra round.”

Joshua Moorehead, another longtime Uber Black driver agreed. “If I go to an area and I see somebody with a gray vest, I just keep it moving, cancel the ride. It’s not worth it to stop.”

Holthoff has been largely avoiding airport pickups in part because of this — and because the waits to be matched with pickup rides at the airport get very long, she said.

“I don’t want to risk it,” she said. The tickets, which she has heard range from $350-500, “aren’t cheap.” If you receive three tickets, she said, you can get a lifetime ban from driving at the airport.

Uber said it is not reimbursing drivers for the tickets; Lyft reimburses for “valid” citation requests.

The problem began last August, Holthoff estimated, around the time the airport’s former director of ground transportation departed following an ethics sanction.

Uber’s Correoso said “historically” the company has worked with airport officials on pickup operation issues. “This specific permitting issue arose a few months ago,” he said.

Candice Joseph said passengers have been asking her about it.

A driver she dropped off at the airport Friday morning, she said, told her he often takes Uber Black for work trips. During their ride he asked about the pickup situation because he’s noticed the persistent problem.

“He said, every time he gets a driver, it’s an issue when they come to pick him up,” she said.

“So he’s like, ‘What are you guys supposed to do?’”

“I’m like, ‘I don’t know!’”