Tampa Airport $1/2 Million Deal Not Super For Consumers

With Bay Shuttle bowing out of the bidding, Phoenix based Super Shuttle of Tampa Bay lands sole rights as the on site airport share-a-ride transportation service. Under a 5 year agreement with the Hillsborough Aviation Authority, Super Shuttle will pay the Authority over a half million dollars a year minimum annual privilege fee to provide shared ride limousine service to and from Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando Counties with the price tag for Pinellas county set at 425 thousand dollars*. "Now the big trick will be watching how the airport helps Super Shuttle acheive the business it

needs and what revenue protection measures the airport will set into motion to insure Super Shuttle will make the almost $49 thousand a month payments." quotes Walter Kozak of the Florida Intrastate Transportation Alliance.

"Coming on the heels of Tampa Airport's announcement of upping the cost of airport limousine transportation through another layer of permitting fees is indicative of how airports manipulate ground transportation pricing to protect the revenue stream of businesses paying for the on site concession." Continues Kozak, "It's kind of ironic that under fire from Hillsborough Commissioners, a Bill was pulled that would of added voices from other counties to the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission (HCPTC) and here is the Hillsborough Aviation Authority bidding out ground transportation from these very same counties."

"Consumers are going to receive it right in the shorts," warns Kozak, "The HCPTC has an iron grip on airport transportation services up and down the coast and has set in place economic regulatory measures such as prohibiting moderate priced vehicles, insurance minimums on luxury sedans that is three times the required amount on taxicabs and 15 passenger vans, minimum pricing consumers must pay and the costs of business licenses and vehicle permits. All government induced operating costs that is dumped on the consumer. Now it looks as though the airport will be getting into the protecting the revenue stream game."

"We may very well see mom and pop airport limousine services economically regulated out of business with the larger operations filling the void. Someone has to pay the regulatory and the concession fees hitting the HCPTC and airports coffers and that someone is going to be the traveling consumer," finishes Kozak. *Information obtained from Hillsborough County Aviation Board Meeting June 7, 2007 Draft Agenda