Off-airport rental car companies will have to pay share of shuttle costs

The county will now start charging Fox Rent A Car and other off-airport rental car operations for a share of the shuttle bus expenses between the passenger terminals at McCarran International Airport and the rental car center south of the runways.

Until now, the off-airport car rental companies picked up customers with their own buses at the center. Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker said no one had complained in the past about the arrangement because off-airport companies had a tiny presence in the market.

But as Fox has grown, from 2.6 percent of the total rental car revenues in 2009 to 6.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, other rental car companies have complained that Fox had an unfair cost advantage. Appearing before the Clark County Board of Commissioners, representative of Avis and Enterprise contended they were being forced to subsidize Fox as a competitor by paying for the shuttle.

Fox had argued in writing that the shuttle bus fee would force them to charge customers more even though their location, at 8801 Las Vegas Blvd. South, was out of the way.

Shuttle operations, fuel and maintenance cost $9.2 million during the year ended June 30, 2011.

Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.