Hartsfifield-Jackson prepares to rebid controversial curbside contract

Ha rt sfi field-Jackson International is looking for a company to manage shuttle traff ificandd is patch taxi sat the airport, a contract that has garnered much attention because of the possibilities for a conflflict of interest.

Right now, the company that handles ground transportation curbside management is A-National Limousine, a limo operator that also has run shuttles between the airport and the city of Atlanta.

That, according to a 2012 airport study by a consulting fifirm, led “to aperception of, if not a real, conflflict of interest.”

The airport is rebidding the contract as the current contract nears expiration.

The curb side management company oversees commercial ground transportation operators, including taxis, limousines, shared ride shuttles, hotel shuttles, offffffffffff-airport parking shuttles, charter buses and the airport’s terminal-to-terminal shuttle service. One concern is that a company could favor its own shuttle s or vehicles over others when managing traffiffic at the curbside and handling customers.

“Typically, if a third-party contractor is used tomanage curbs or dispatching/starter operations, they are not also of ff ff ff ff ff fe ring transportation services in the form of service providers,” according to consulting fifirmRicondo& Associates, which conducted the study for the airport. A limo coalition raised similar concerns.

Yet the city’ s new solicitation for the contract does not bar ground transportation providers at the airport from winning the curbside management contract.

Hartsfifield-Jackson spokeswoman Elise Durham said in an e-mail that “the processwill be transparent and without bias.”