Des Moines International Airport is seeing a sharp increase in the use of Uber and other ride-booking services, which for the first time are expected to generate more income than taxis from a special airport fee this year. 

If the Des Moines Airport Authority approves an increase in the airport’s per-trip commercial fees next month, airport staffers expect $51,480 from Uber, Lyft and similar services this year. Taxis would generate $50,447. 

Kevin Foley, the airport’s executive director and general manager, said the Uber type of trips are up sharply and will likely carry more passengers than taxis eventually. As it stands now, even with the ride-booking services looking to top taxis on this part of the airport’s revenue, taxis still make way more trips to the airport. 

In 2015, taxis logged 53,102 trips to the airport, several thousand more than the hotel and motel shuttles and the private parking lot vans. Uber et al. came in at 7,393, and limousines, 2,403. 

This year, the ride-booking crowd will jump to an estimated 17,160, while taxis fall to 50,447, and the others rise slightly.  

Overall trips to the airport are expected to jump to 169,951 from 161,317 in 2015. Uber-type trips are expected to more than double, to 17,160. Taxis are expected to lose about 3,000 trips, down to 50,447, while hotel/motel traffic gains roughly 700, to 49,049. Private parking lots’ shuttles will gain about 700, while limos hold steady, according to airport projections. 

The airport had projected 158,890 commercial vehicle trips in 2015, but topped that number by about 2,400.

From an airport revenue standpoint, the ride-booking services would have the biggest jump, adding $18,210, up 54.7 percent to $51,480. Private parking shuttles’ payment to the airport would rise $13,773, or 18.4 percent. Hotel shuttles’ payment would be up $13,349, also an 18.4 percent gain. 

Foley said the revenue from taxis and the ride-booking crowd is in the same ballpark because taxis would pay $1 per trip while Uber pays $3 a trip, the same as limos. Taxis also are on the hook for $2 per trip to run the taxi stand, though that isn’t a payment to the airport.

The airport took in $231,133 from trips to the airport in 2015, $33,270 of it from traffic from Uber and other “transportation network companies.” 

The airport charges for Uber and limousines won’t change with a new rate package the Airport Authority board will consider next month. Taxis would pay $1, up from 75 cents per trip. Vans from hotels and motels and private parking lots would pay $1.75, up from $1.50, charter buses would continue to pay $15, and off-airport rental car courtesy vehicles would pay 10 percent of gross receipts.

Foley said the fees vary based on the level of service the vehicles provide and how much they weigh. The proposed fee increase has drawn opposition from private parking lot owners, who say the added expense would be passed on in prices. Foley noted that the fees don’t cover all the airport’s related expenses, in part because the airport’s own shuttles also damage roads, for example.

Foley said the commercial vehicle fees were phased in over three years, but would remain the same for a while.

That’s an interesting development in a city that resisted Uber a bit at first, then passed an ordinance that requires Uber drivers to get a chauffeur’s license and to display a decal on their vehicle when they are making Uber trips in the city.