December 13, 2019
James Bennett
Director
City of Phoenix - Aviation Department
2485 E Buckeye Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Director Bennett:
Since Uber launched in Phoenix in 2012, we have helped move millions of Arizonans and
visitors around the Valley during a period of remarkable economic growth and expansion. Tens
of thousands of local residents have chosen to drive with Uber to earn extra income on a flexible
schedule, and the Uber app has connected communities across Maricopa County with reliable
transportation options, especially those with limited access to public transit. In the third quarter
of 2019, nearly 18% of all Uber trips to or from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport began
or ended in low-income communities.
Over the last seven years, Uber has invested heavily in the Phoenix community, growing our
local presence to more than 650 company employees in our downtown Phoenix Center of
Excellence. We’ve volunteered thousands of hours with more than 20 community organizations,
including St. Vincent de Paul, St. Mary’s Food Bank, Phoenix Pride, and more. Simply put,
being a part of the Phoenix community is important to us. That’s why Uber has actively engaged
in good faith with you and your staff over the last several months to find a compromise that
would fairly and responsibly implement fees for operating on your roadways. In fact, Uber
partnered with PHX staff on a ground transportation fee benchmarking study over the course of
nearly a year. Unfortunately, the conclusion of that study, which stated “any revision to trip fees
should be assessed against the average fees of the airports benchmarked within this study,”
was ignored. Instead, the Airport pursued an entirely separate effort to hike fees on ridesharing
users to the highest level of any airport in the United States.
The Airport’s plan unfairly penalizes those who rely on ridesharing to get to or from PHX by
asking them to bear a disproportionate share of costs associated with the Sky Train. Under the
Airport’s plan, rideshare users will have to disproportionately foot most of the bill —
approximately 80% of the total — for a transportation option that they are not using. In addition,
taxi companies and other modes of transportation are not asked to play by the same rules. On
behalf of the riders and drivers who rely on Uber, we cannot accept a partnership that unfairly
burdens our shared passengers.
Unfortunately, Uber and other ridesharing companies were excluded from the alternative
process by which the Airport determined a radically different proposal than the benchmarking
study’s recommendation. The fee allocation model that resulted in the Airport’s ultimate

 proposal was delivered to Uber just 24 hours prior to the first Phoenix Aviation Advisory Board
subcommittee meeting, when the Airport’s initial proposal was voted upon. Despite our
concerns about the process, we subsequently attempted to reach a compromise with your staff
on multiple occasions and are disappointed that we have been unable to find common ground.
I am writing to you to once again reiterate our willingness to work with you and your staff to
identify a better solution that does not unfairly target those who rely on ridesharing. If the
Phoenix City Council approves the ground transportation fee structure currently recommended
by PHX, Uber will be forced to cease operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport effective
January 2020.
We sincerely hope you are willing to reconsider your position so that we can continue to serve
our shared customers and provide access to reliable rides from PHX as we’ve done for the last
seven years. We stand ready to discuss this matter in more detail at your earliest convenience.
Thank you,
Chris Garcia
Global Airport Partnerships Manager, Uber
cc:

The Honorable Kate Gallego, Mayor
Phoenix City Council