Published Wednesday, May 7, 2008, by the Peninsula Examiner

SFO may shrink shuttle selections

By Mike Rosenberg
mrosenberg@...

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT -- Frequent customer complaints about bustling
van services that drop off and pick up approximately 500,000 fliers
to and from the Bay Area's busiest airport may force one or two van
companies to gain a monopoly on the shuttle business.

Currently, 13 companies take fliers to and from San Francisco
International Airport, generally operating between San Francisco
and the Silicon Valley, according to the airport's Web site. After
passengers grumbled that the van operators are too difficult to reach
by phone, charge higher rates than were quoted and take roundabout
routes, SFO officials said Tuesday that they will take the first
steps toward a complete revamping of the door-to-door, shared-ride
van service.

Airport officials are considering terminating the permits for the
van companies currently operating at the airport and allowing only
one or two van services to operate within the airport, said Tryg
McCoy, SFO's deputy airport director for operations and security.
The airport may follow the leads of Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles
International and other national airports by providing customers
with less than three operators, he said.

But van operators claim reduced competition at the airport would
lead to an increase in rates, said Daniel Baker, a Lafayette-based
attorney representing the smaller van services in the hopes of
convincing airport officials not to undertake the overhaul.

Passengers currently pay an average of $10 to $15 dollars for a
ride on shuttle services such as Bayporter Express, Super Shuttle
and M&M Luxury Shuttle.

"I feel sorry for [the van companies] because they're going to be
thrown out," Baker said.

By limiting the service to a smaller number of companies, airport
leaders said the overhaul will allow passengers better access to van
companies. SFO officials also want to consolidate pickup locations at
the airport from three to either two or one to make companies easier
to find. It will also pick van companies partly based on their
ability to meet the airport's goal of running all vehicles on clean
energy by 2012, a mandate less than 24 percent of the airport's more
than 200 vans currently comply with.

The overhaul, however, will cost drivers -- 41 percent of whom have
worked at the airport for at least five years, Baker said -- their
jobs. But McCoy said even if companies are axed, van drivers would
likely be able to keep working at SFO with another operator.

"Certainly, I'm concerned about the well-being of the companies,"
McCoy said. "But I'm also concerned about making the right changes
for the customers."

SFO's van companies

SFO officials are considering trimming the number of shuttle services
that operate at the airport to one or two.

470,000: Riders who used the service last year
$18: Sample price for shared van from SFO to Burlingame
More than 200: Vans at airport
13: Operators at airport
2012: Year by which SFO wants vans to run on clean energy
24 percent: Vans that currently run on clean energy

Approved shuttle-service operators

» Advanced Airport Shuttle
» Airport Express
» American Airporter Shuttle
» Bayporter Express
» Bay Shuttle
» Go Lorrie's Airport Shuttle
» M & M Luxury Shuttle
» Pacific Airport Shuttle
» Peter's Airport Shuttle
» Quake City Shuttle
» San Francisco City Shuttle
» South & East Bay Shuttle
» SuperShuttle


Sources: San Francisco International Airport, SuperShuttle.com