Taxi drivers may soon have to pick up passengers at the airport in a different area, farther from the airport doors, as the city plans to swap out the taxi zone and the rideshare zone. The Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania is suing the city in an attempt to prevent the zone change.
The proposed change would move taxi pickup from Zone 5, which is just outside baggage claim in Terminal A, to Zone 7, which requires travelers to cross the street bordering the terminal. Taxi drivers say that would take away their visibility, which they argue is more important to the taxi business than it is to Uber or Lyft, because taxis can’t rely on an app to connect with customers.
“If we leave Zone 5 and go anywhere else at the airport, [we’ll be] out of sight, out of mind,” said Abdul Manan, a driver for the last seven years.
