Car-sharing apps are popular, especially in the summer months. But apps can't conduct business at the airport without a permit. Officers have been issuing citations to Turo hosts, who are scrambling to find new ways to conduct business.
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- Hawaii is fast approaching the summer travel season. It is a time when the airport parking garages and lots can quickly fill up. Lately, some of the stalls are being taken up by cars rented out through Turo, a car sharing service.
And security officers are issuing citations to Turo hosts who are doing exchanges there, while Turo hosts are scrambling to find new ways to conduct business.
Jonathan Charo is set to rent out one of several Turo cars he owns. The app Turo allows every-day hosts to rent out their cars to others.
"Right now, delivery to hotels and residences are options," said Charo.
What's not an option for him is dropping off a car for a customer at the airport. Many of Charo and other Turo hosts' customers are coming in on flights, but he won't go anywhere near those parking lots.
"If you're not permitted, you're not allowed to do business on airport grounds. So with those Turo, with the peer-to-peer rentals that are going on, if you are doing business on airport grounds then you are breaking the law. You could face a $50 fine and have your car towed," said Hawaii DOT Spokesperson Jai Cunningham.
Having your car towed is not cheap, but the DOT says people are still doing the transactions. The department wants to get the word out so people will stop.
There's no permitting procedure in place yet to make the exchanges legal.
"A similar thing happened back a decade ago, when you had Lyft and Uber coming onto airport property. Taxi drivers were not permitted. So we had to work on legislation to govern how those rideshare apps are handled when they are on airport grounds. So it's probably something we're looking at in figuring out exactly how to handle this," said Cunningham.
Charo says he's researched and found another option at some other airports.
"It's pretty much a section a the airport that's dedicated to Turo cars. There is an employee who works there extended hours. They do the pickups and drop offs," said Charo.
As we head into the popular summer travel season, the DOT recommends people get picked up and dropped off at the airport, rather than parking their cars.
