State Department of Transportation officials said Uber and Lyft will have authorization to pick up customers at Honolulu’s airport for another six months beginning March 1.

DOT officials said they believe the additional transportation option benefits the traveling public at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and that the increased competition helps raise the overall standards of the ground transportation industry.

“Transportation options are evolving and we don’t want to turn our back on new services that the public uses,” said Jade Butay, HDOT interim director in a news release. “We will use the next six months to further understand how the new services mix with current services and to gather additional performance data.”

The state started a three-month trial period on Dec. 1, giving the companies access to pick up customers at the airport.

During the trial period the companies provided more than 50,000 pick-ups combined from the airport and five Lyft/Uber drivers were also cited for attempting to pick up passengers outside of the designated areas.

State officials, however, said they have received positive feedback from users of the service.

“The extension will be used to work on the permanent decision regarding Transportation Network Companies and to proceed with the rule changing process to modernize the rules, which have not been amended since 2002,” DOT officials said in the news release. The process will include a public comment period and take up to six months, they said.

The two designated Uber/Lyft pickup areas at the airportare on the second-level median curb — at the Interisland Terminal across from Lobby 2 and at the Overseas Terminal across from Lobby 8.