NEED A LYFT? RIDE-SHARING SERVICE OK’D AT DIA
Just in time for Thanksgiving, passengers will be able hail a Lyft car to and from Denver International Airport after an agreement was reached between the ride-sharing service and the airport.
“We’re very excited,” Lyft spokeswoman Katie Dally said. “It just shows how open-minded Colorado has been to ride-sharing.”
Riders will be dropped off at Level 6 departures and picked up at arrivals on Level 4 at DIA, which joins the Nashville, Tenn., and San Francisco international airports in offering the service.
DIA spokesman HeathMontgomery said Lyft was the first ridesharing company to complete the paperwork necessary to begin offering service at the airport.
He said Uber likely will follow suit.
“I would expect that there will be some progress within the next couple of weeks,” he said.
The agreement, which is effective immediately, is a big step for ride-sharing services, which have courted controversy in Colorado during their brief history. When Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill into law in June, it made Colorado the first state to give legislative blessings to the companies, which allow passengers to hail a ride using a smartphone app.
That came three months after the bill was passed following a series of heated public testimony sessions at the state legislature in which opponents, including taxi companies, fought it.
Attempts to reach Denver taxi companies Tuesday were unsuccessful.