Title: An act relating to consolidated rental car facilities at airports.

Brief Description: Authorizing a customer facility charge on rental car customers to finance consolidated rental car facilities.

Sponsors: Representatives O'Brien, Hankins and Anderson.

Brief History:

Transportation: 2/21/05, 3/3/05 [DP].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 26 members: Representatives Murray, Chair; Wallace, Vice Chair; Woods, Ranking Minority Member; Skinner, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Appleton, Buck, Campbell, Curtis, Dickerson, Ericksen, Hankins, Hudgins, Jarrett, Kilmer, Lovick, Morris, Nixon, Rodne, Schindler, Sells, Shabro, Simpson, B. Sullivan, Takko, Upthegrove and Wood.

Staff: Jerry Long (786-7306).

Background:

Rental car facilities at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are located at numerous sites near the airport as well as the first two floors of the airport parking garage. Eighty-five percent of the airport rental companies are located in the parking garage. The airport has found that the decentralization of rental car facilities contributes to area and airport traffic congestion in the form of trip counts in and out of the airport by multiple commercial shuttle operators and rental cars to and from the decentralized facilities. Also, by having car rental facilities located in the airport parking garage, available parking for airport customers is reduced by the space taken by the rental companies.

Summary of Bill:

Municipal airports are authorized to levy a customer finance charge on rental cars at an airport for the purpose of financing the design, construction and operation of a consolidated rental car facility and common use transportation equipment and facilities to transport rental car customers between the facility and airport. Rental car companies would collect the customer finance charge as part of each rental car agreement and be deposited in a trust account for the airport operator. The charges will be remitted at the direction of the airport operator, but not more than once a month. The charge has to be calculated on a per transaction or per day basis. The charges may not exceed the reasonable costs of financing, designing, construction, operating and maintaining the facility and the common use transportation equipment and facilities and may not be used for any other purpose.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: The airports having the ability to consolidate rental facilities in one location would reduce congestion and reduce the projected increase in congestion at Sea-Tac and the surrounding area by reducing the number of trips in and out of the airport. By having the rental car facilities at one location, the area presently being used by the rental car companies in the parking garage would be available for airport customers. The shared transport service would transport customers between the consolidated rental car facility and the airport.

Testimony Against: None.

Persons Testifying: Mark Reis, Sea-Tac Airport; and Joe Daniels, City of Sea-Tac.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.