5600 C Rain ier Ave S           Phone: 206-284-5600       office@unitedforhire.com
Suite 210                  Fax:   206-284-5600      www.unitedforhire.com
Seattle. WA 98118



My name is Jim Kelly. I am the manager of United For Hire.
United is a small company. We are not backed by Uber'sbillions nor do we have former
Deputy mayors lobbying for us but we do have some good ideas and occasionally good
ideas win out over money and influence.
We favor the open access model, Option 2, on the airport ground transportation services
briefing prepared by Commission staff. While staff'spreference for a closed system,
option 3, is obvious, we would like to point out that Boston has an open system that is
working quite well. Any taxi with a Boston license can get in line at Logan Airport.
Despite having an originating & departing number of passengers that is only 7% higher
than Seatac, Logan collected $5.1 million in annual revenue versus $3.6M at STI. And
this revenue was collected despite the fact that Boston'sper trip fee of$2.50 is halfof
what Seatac charges.
There were admittedly gaps in the data that Leigh-Fisher provided for Boston. Leigh-
Fisher did not list the number ofoutbound trips, number oftaxi permits or what
personnel were counted as Ground Transpmtation staff. But nonetheless, Boston is an
example ofsuccessful open access system.
United thinks that a combination ofparking gate technology and a software platform
including a sma11 phone app component could be used to collect revenue for the port,
manage transportation provider traffic into the on demand line, distribute fares equitably
among transportation providers, and track cabs after they leave the airport for the
purposes ofretrieving lost passenger propetty and resolving complaints.
In our plan, a parking gate would be installed at the entrance to the taxi holding area.
Drivers wishing to get in the line would insert a digital card in the parking gate machine,
and a per trip charge of$5 would be deducted from the driver'saccount. This revenue
would go directly to the p011. Ifthere were 814,000 outbound passenger trips, the port
would receive revenue based on that number not on 709,000.
The open access model could be managed by Ground Transportation or by a contractor
selected by the Port. We would like to see a neutral pruty in charge, not a transportation
provider or an organization fronting for transpmtation providers.
United would like to meet with port personnel to explain our ideas further and how they
would be implemented. We look forward to hearing from you.