BREAKING: Uber Drivers & Passengers Won't Be Able To Pick Up Case Against Phoenix's Sky Harbor Ride-Sharing Fees

UPDATE, 2/3/20 at 12:20pm: The Goldwater Institute confirmed to "AZ Law" this morning that even though it will not be permitted to intervene in the case on behalf of ride-sharing drivers and passengers, they WILL file an amicus brief (i.e. "friend of the court") arguing why the fee increase would be harmful and why it would violate Arizona law.

The Arizona Supreme Court denied a request by five Uber and Lyft drivers to intervene in the legal challenge to Phoenix's decision to increase ride-sharing fees at Sky Harbor Airport. The Goldwater Institute had filed the motion last week, and without comment, the court denied it yesterday.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office filed the special action in January after concluding that Phoenix's decision to increase fees for commercial drop-offs and pick-ups curbside violated state law. The Goldwater Institute believed that it could "offer additional evidence and argument"

Jon Riches, the Institute's Director of National Litigation, said "we are hopeful it can no longer ignore those parties who have been most directly harmed by its actions."

Both Phoenix and the Attorney General's Office opposed the drivers'/passengers' motion. The case will go on without that perspective. It is set for oral argument March 26. The City and the AG's office agreed that the fee increases would not go into effect pending the Court's decision.

The fee increases would immediately raise a round-trip fee from $2.66 to $8.00, and the fees would increase up to $10.00 by 2024.

Here are the Responses from the City and the State: