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Taxi Drivers Protest Elimination Of Curbside Pickup At LAX

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Taxi drivers are taking to the streets at LAX Monday to protest recent moves that they say are decimating their ability to make a living.

Drivers gathered around 11 a.m. for the march along the arrivals level to the Clifton A. Moore Administration Building at 1 World Way, according to the Taxi Workers Alliance of Los Angeles.

The taxi drivers union says they have been battered by competition from rideshare companies, losing an estimated 77 percent of ridership in Los Angeles. With drivers now depending on rides to and from LAX to make ends meet, Los Angeles World Airports' (LAWA) decision to remove taxi stands in the Central Terminal Area is a near death blow.

"LAWA's recent decision to eliminate curbside pickup for taxicabs at LAX, and to relocate taxis to the LAXit lot outside the airport, has decimated the industry," the union said in a statement. "As the result [of] this policy, cab drivers work at the airport has plummeted by a whopping 70%! This level of losses is unsustainable and, as Councilman Koretz [has] said, 'will be the final nail in the coffin of the taxi industry.'"

The protest didn't have any reported impact on flight operations.

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