A new peer-to-peer car rental service has received the go-ahead from officials at San Francisco International Airport, CNBC reported.
RelayRides, which has been parking passengers' cars for free and renting them out since August, has reached an agreement with SFO and can operate legally at the airport.
The company, which has car shares available in 1,900 cities across the country, washes the cars left by travelers and rents them out at good prices for visitors.
Company representatives argued that RelayRides should be exempt from paying SFO the same fees that traditional rental companies pay since it "operates in the shared-economy marketplace."
But SFO, which brings in about 10 percent of its annual operating budget ($94 million last fiscal year) from rental fees, wasn't thrilled with the idea. The airport has filed a legal complaint against FlightCar, which operates similarly.
For the recent agreement, RelayRides agreed to be classified as an off-airport rental; the compromise between an airport and a nontraditional rental company was the first of its kind, according to CNBC.
Under the terms, the company has to stay within state and airport permitting, licensing and congestion-reduction restrictions. RelayRides also must give 10 percent of its gross revenues from airport-related transactions, plus a $20 transaction fee, to SFO, according to airport spokesman Doug Yakel.
RelayRides' rates are touted to be 20-40 percent less than regular car rentals, and the company gives owners peace of mind with a $1 million insurance policy.
The agreement benefits both the company and the airport since SFO "is being creative about new streams of revenue while maintaining and expanding services to passengers," said airport concessions consultant Ellery Plowman of Elleco.
Travelers will win as well, said Yakel.
"We want to provide options that our customers are already seeking out. We also need to enforce safety and fairness, and this shows that it can be done," he said.
The agreement could signify a shift in airport rental car services, which provide a vital piece of airport profits. United States airports earned $1.5 billion, or 20 percent of nonaeronautical revenue, from rental car company fees in 2012, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
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