It's official, if you are traveling to Palm Springs by air, Uber and Lyft will be able to pick you up at the airport with their standard cars as well as their luxury category. Up until today, the city council of Palm Springs did not allow the ride-sharing companies access to the Airports arrivals lounge, which made customers have to choose between a taxi, public transport or walking to rideshare pick up location outside the airport. A lot of angry constituents complained, and Councilwoman Christy Holstege took up the challenge and changed the rideshare status.
Councilwoman Holstege stated that it was "frankly a little embarrassing" that rideshare companies were not allowed near the arrivals lounge in a city that thrives on tourism. Not only that, in an era where ridesharing is a standard form of transportation trying to adhere to the old norms is like the time when people would not allow cars into a city when horses were slowly being replaced as the means of transportation.
The reason why rideshare companies were not allowed to pick up passengers from the arrivals lounge came after their refusal to allow the airport authority to perform random alcohol and drug tests on the drivers. Now the airport authority has bent their rigidity and will allow these drivers access without forcing random testing. The airport authority will also designate an eight-car parking and staging area, where drivers can wait for their passengers. Only drivers waiting in the parking area will be allowed to wait for passengers, based on a first come first served basis.
The new service will be in full operation by early March.