St. Louis committee advances airport permit rules for peer-to-peer car rentals after changes to protect existing contracts

The Transportation & Commerce committee approved a committee substitute for Board Bill 25 with amendments that narrow its immediate effect and remove a controversial placard requirement for peer-to-peer car rental vehicles operating at Lambert'St. Louis International Airport. The committee voted to send the measure to the full Board with a due-pass recommendation.

What the bill would do

Board Bill 25 would establish a permitting framework for peer-to-peer car rental operators (firms that facilitate rental of privately owned vehicles) at the St. Louis airport. The draft permit discussed by airport staff would have required a per‑trip or percentage fee (the airport staff told the committee the draft used a proposed 10% of gross receipts), standard insurance and indemnity provisions, and operational limits such as whether vehicles could access curbside areas or only the garage and shuttle lots. The airport presented a one-year permit in the draft to allow the airport to evaluate how operations worked before a longer arrangement.

Committee action and amendments

- Amendment 1 (adopted): Clarifies that currently existing rental- and non-rental contracts are not impaired by the new fee provisions, and preserves the airport's ability to structure future competitive bids for on-airport concessions. - Amendment 2 (adopted): Removes a provision that would have required a placard inside each peer-to-peer vehicle; airport staff said the placard requirement raised privacy and safety concerns and that comparable airports limit placards to curbside exchanges only.

Why it mattered to the committee

Airport staff (Rhonda Neabrook, airport director) told the committee the draft permit intentionally limited curbside access and did not give peer-to-peer operators access to Terminal 2…