Miami–Dade Aviation Department Ground Transportation Fees Monica Beltran

Background  The Miami-Dade Aviation Department director may issue operational directives (OD)  Establishment of fees in an Operational Directive require action from Board of County Commissioners  In November of 1980 the Aviation Department issued OD 24 regulating and classifying ground transportation service at the Miami International Airport

Operational Directive 24  OD 24 divided ground transportation services into 4 classes: –Class A: Prearranged Interstate Service –Class B: Intrastate Service –Class C: Airline Crew Service –Class D: Expedite Service

Operational Directive 24  OD 24 also established service zones for pick-up points, fees and insurance requirements for all classes of service  Fees included: - $2,500 minimum security deposit - $10 pick-up fee for smaller vehicles (38 or fewer passengers ), including limousines - $20 pick-up fee for large vehicles ( 38 or more passengers

American V.I.P Limousines, Inc.  In 1989 American V.I.P. Limousines, Inc., comprised of various limousine companies brought action against the Dade County Board of County Commissioners, acting as the Dade County Aviation Authority, challenging regulations governing service at airport terminal.

Ruling  The District Court held that: 1- “Classifications adopted by the department for limousine services, bus services, taxi services, shuttle services and other pickup services did not violate equal protection rights of the limousine services”

Ruling 2- “Regulations did not violate commerce clause” 3- “Fees which had been charged by the Aviation Department were discriminatory “

Fees  Limousine operators who showed that they had been charged discriminatory fees by county aviation department for pickups at airport were entitled to the losses represented by the difference between what they had been charged and what they would be charged under new fee schedule.

Equal Protection  “Regulation limiting access of limousines to airport terminal did not deny limousine operators equal protection of the law in view of the fact, unlike the situation with taxicabs, their passengers would not be immediately ready to board, they did not take passengers on demand, and their greater size presented congestion problems.”

Commerce  “Regulations limiting access to airport terminal for limousine services were not an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce in view of fact that airport was more than 300 miles by land from the nearest state border, regulation was necessary to relieve severe vehicle traffic congestion, and there was little burden on interstate travelers, even though the service had filed applications with county aviation department for the right to operate as interstate limousine companies.”

Reduced Fees  In 1990 under a revised OD 24,the security deposit and pickup fees were reduced  Minimum deposit dropped from $2,500 to $500  Limousine fee was modified from a pickup fee to a per-trip fee and was reduced from $10.00 to $2.50

Teri Davis, d/b/a Dependable Limos vs. the Aviation Department  In 2006, Dependable Limo filed a federal lawsuit against the Aviation Department  Claimed OD 24 to be unconstitutional because of imposition of fees and other requirements on limousines dropping off passengers at airport  Claimed abuse of process and malicious prosecution for enforcing the terms of OD 24

Commerce Clause  “ County aviation department regulation per trip fee and minimum insurance requirements on limousine service operators that dropped off passengers at airport did not impose unreasonable burden on interstate commerce, in violation of Commerce Clause, where approximately one-half of comparable airports, imposed similar fees, …. And there was no evidence that fee and cost of additional insurance could not be absorbed by operator’s customers.”

OD 24 requirements  “The court in American V.I.P. determined that the requirements of OD-24 were not clearly excessive at the time of that challenge in , and this Court finds nothing to suggest that the passage of the intervening fifteen years changes the results of that analysis.”

Equal Rights  “County aviation department had rational basis for regulation imposing per trip fee and minimum insurance requirements on limousines dropping off passengers at airport, and thus regulation did not violate limousine service operator’s equal protection rights, even though taxicabs were not subject to same requirements;…”  Reference was made to the American V.I.P. Limousine case, which supported the differences between taxicab and limousine service

Abuse of Process and Malicious Prosecution  “Having found no constitutional infirmity in OD-24, the court now turns to Plaintiff’s state law claims alleging malicious prosecution and abuse of process. The Court declines to exercise supplemental *1201 jurisdiction…over these two claims in light of the Court’s conclusion that OD-24 is rationally related to a legitimate government purpose.”

Supporting OD 24  “The Court has found that there are several purposes which could support OD-24, including the regulation and control of airport roadway traffic, the protection of the public safety, and the need to generate revenue from commercial users of the airport to support the provision of the airport facilities to the public.”

AVI system  From a process that required issuance of a permit for each pickup and drop off  To an honor reporting system  To an AVI system deployed in June of 2001  Ground transportation revenues significantly increased through enforcement and use of AVI technology

AVI Deployed June 2001 Revenue Comparison

AVI Revenue Comparison April 01 vs. April 02 $43,903 vs. $116,949

REVENUE!!!!!  In the 12 months following the implementation of AVI, despite the effects of 9/11, billing more than doubled as compared to the 12 months prior to implementation. $472,069 versus $1,022,391

OD 24 Per-Trip Revenue 2008 Calendar Year  Prearranged- A-1 Bus- $6.00 per-trip$183,588 A-1 Bus- $6.00 per-trip$183,588 A-2 Van- $2.50 per-trip $280,285 A-3 Limo- $2.50 per-trip $601,953 Hotel Courtesy B-1- Small $1.00 per-trip$291,829 B-2- Large $2.00 per-trip $205,194 Crew Service C-1 Small$1.00 per-trip$42,978 C-1 Small$1.00 per-trip$42,978 C-2 Large$2.00 per-trip$10,628 TOTAL$1,616,454