Readers weigh in on proposed Logan fee increase

Some of you agreed:
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'Of course it isn't fair (fare!) to impose a different fee on rideshares than on taxis or private cars,' wrote Annabella Gualdoni. Harry Mattison agreed, suggesting that MassPort 'put up an electronic tolling gantry at the entrance to the airport just like we have on the Pike' and then 'charge every vehicle that enters the same flat amount.'
'We are fortunate to have Logan so close to the city and we need to respect that good fortune by promoting public transportation,' wrote Gary Schwandt. 'Charge every vehicle the same to encourage alternatives.' Raise the tolls high enough and 'at some point people will instead use a shuttle bus' instead, wrote Charles Schuerhoff.
Others just rejected the whole premise.
'What a great idea, Alan,' wrote Duncan FitzGerald. 'Of course being a progressive, you've never seen a tax you couldn't embrace. The solution is always more taxes and throwing money at a problem.'
But most of you had mixed feelings, or pointed out potential unintended consequences.
For instance, making it too expensive to take Ubers could push people to take different flights – or even go to different airports.
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'What about people whose flights leave before 7 a.m.? You can't take the T, which doesn't start operating until 5:30, and will take an hour to get you to Airport station,' wrote Laurence Kranich. 'A stiff Uber fee will encourage more people to drive and park at Logan, or to take later flights and increase already crowded hours. This behavior is not what is intended or wanted.'
Jim Vander Poel, writing from Northborough, said that increasing fees at Logan is only 'going to make T.F. Green, Manchester, and even Hartford more amenable for us out here in Central Massachusetts,' adding that he'd 'only go to Logan with a gun to my head.'
Another possible unintended consequence: lower tips. Deb Meyer, a ridehail driver, said she typically tries to avoid airport trips, but that 'one of the few benefits of airport trips is that passengers tip much more frequently than on other rides. I can't help but wonder if this additional burden will have the same effect as surge pricing and reduce tipping.'
A few readers pointed out that some people can't realistically switch to mass transit, no matter how strong the financial incentive – which makes the increase an unavoidable hardship for them.
'As a person with mobility issues, Uber enables me to get to Logan for the occasional early flight to see family in California. My daughter treats me to a plane ticket as my funds are limited. There is no other viable way for me to get to the airport. I do not think it is fair to impose this additional charge,' wrote Barbara Christman.
A higher fee 'unfairly taxes those who do not have easy access to public transportation, generally lower income citizens,' wrote George Baquis, who called it a 'regressive.'
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And probably the largest share of you felt the fee wasn't likely to incentivize people to switch for the simple reason that the other options just weren't good enough.
'MassPort is delusional if they think that people will switch to public transportation,' said Edgardo Sternberg. 'The Blue Line is laughable as you have to switch to a bus to get to the terminals,' he wrote. 'The Silver Line's slow, infrequent, and unpredictable service is no panacea, either.'
Robert G. Atkinson Jr. said the premise of charging people to push them onto transit was 'absurd.' 'When I can walk to the train or the T and get a one-seat ride to the airport, then I may change my mind,' he said.
'There is no good way for people to get to the airport on public transportation, so if you try to reduce the number of cars going to Logan, how are we supposed to get there?' wrote Amy Sutherland.
'Sadly, while our public transport is improving, it still has a long way to go before one can rely on it for airline travel. In this regard, we are truly a third world country,' wrote Vera Jordan. 'Until that improves, it is not fair to put a $15 charge on Uber and Lyft rides.'
'If they want me to take public transportation then they should offer more express buses from more key locations with overnight parking,' wrote Alina Duckham.
Stefania Mallett said there was no good non-car way for her to get to Logan 'that doesn't cost me a couple of extra hours of time plus a lot of angst because of unreliability,' she wrote. 'As things stand, with Google giving me real-time info about how long the drive is, it's very hard to justify anything other than driving.'
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One reader pointed out that if MassPort wants to use prices to drive behavior, it has less punitive options. 'How about a decrease in bus fares?' said David Moulton, who said he recently took an Uber ride from Logan that was only twice the cost of a bus on a comparable route. 'Not [a] bad deal, considering,' he wrote — and not a great incentive to take the bus.
And Andrew Fisher suggested we might be thinking about the whole question the wrong way — and missing the most obvious, and environmentally sensible, solution.
A 'better way to reduce traffic to Logan would be fewer flights, wouldn't it?' he wrote.
Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful comments.
This is an excerpt from
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Alan Wirzbicki is Globe deputy editor for editorials. He can be reached at

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