Colonie

Capitaland Taxi has ended its operation as the official on-site taxi service for Albany International Airport, the latest sign of the collapse of the local livery business amid competition from ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft.

"I just couldn't hang on anymore," Capitaland Taxi owner Bret Peek told the Times Union on Wednesday. "We tried."

Airport spokesman Doug Myers said Wednesday that the airport authority has sent out a request-for-proposals to local taxi companies to replace Capitaland, which was required to have on-site taxi service up to 30 minutes after the arrival of the last flight of the night.

In the meantime, the airport has asked local taxi companies to send cabs to wait for arriving passengers and the airport has hired a "starter" who will be located in the baggage area 12 hours a day to manage getting people into those cabs.

"They'll have a desk in the baggage area," Myers said.

The departure of Capitaland is the latest sign of downsizing for local taxi companies as they face encroachment from Uber and Lyft, which began operating at the airport in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

When Uber signed its contract with the airport, Peek said he lost 60 percent of his business at the airport virtually overnight.

Nothing Capitaland or the airport did to try and improve the situation seemed to work. Peek said he had a special airport fleet of 15 vehicles but demand was less than half of that, leading the operation into the red.

For instance, in late February the airport allowed Capitaland to start lining up its vehicles curbside next to the terminal, instead of in the commercial lane that is shared with hotel and Park Ride & Fly shuttles.

The change was part of a three-month pilot program designed to help Capitaland better compete against Uber and Lyft after the company had planned on walking away from the airport when its contract with the airport authority expired.

The airport authority added the taxi podium in the baggage area and also approved a $10.50 flat rate for close-in destinations around the airport to try and stem the tide.

"We had good cars, good drivers," Peek said. "We did everything (the airport) asked us to do."

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Myers said Wednesday that Uber and Lyft are providing roughly 13,000 rides a month in and out of the airport. The airport is paid $2 for each pick-up or drop-off Uber or Lyft makes at Albany International, although that fee is set to rise by 9 cents later this month.

Capitaland first won the contract to serve the airport in 2005, taking over for Albany Yellow Cab. That was two years before the launch of the iPhone and years before the Uber mobile app was launched.

Capitaland paid the airport a $2 fee for each pick-up, but not for drop-offs.

On Wednesday, a sign hung on Capitaland's kiosk near the baggage claim: "Out of business. Thanks to all our customers and employees here at the Albany Airport."

A video that purports to show the final minutes of the company's time at the airport shows taxi company workers walking out of the airport while "Taps" plays in the background.

Capitaland had already ended overnight service at the airport to drop people off for early morning flights earlier in the year.

The competition was so fierce between taxis and the ride-hailing companies that when airport officials investigated why a Lyft sign at the airport was routinely being flipped around each morning, they discovered from surveillance video that the culprit had been one of Capitaland's workers.

Capitaland has already closed its offices in Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, and plans to shift its Albany operations to its office in Colonie.

Peek says that while ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft may be cheaper now, they are subsidized and will eventually raise rates that are kept artificially low to kill off the taxi industry.

"Their investors aren't going to put up with it forever," Peek said. "Nobody's making any money."