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Driving at Santa Barbara Airport (SBA)

Airports can be complicated places, especially for drivers. But knowing the basics, and getting information in advance about your local airport, can help make sure you’re prepared for your first pickup or dropoff.

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Pickups at the airport

Santa Barbara Airport now uses a Staging Lot where drivers like you will need to be located in order to receive trip requests from arriving riders. Drivers waiting elsewhere will not receive airport trip requests and could be asked to leave or fined by airport authorities.

Here are a few tips that you can use to help pickups be seamless at the airport:

  • Head to the Staging Lot located at 495 S. Fairview Avenue to enter the FIFO (first-in, first-out) queue. Drivers receive pickup requests in the order they enter the queue.
  • Once you get a pickup request, confirm with your rider that they are curbside on the center island at the airport in front of the terminal building and ready to go before you drive to the airport.
  • Follow the signs for commercial vehicles. Meet your rider curbside of the center island (located to your right). You can pick up in front of the taxis and beyond the crosswalk.
  • Follow instructions from the airport staff and be aware of your surroundings—your pickup area is a communal space.
  • The Uber vehicle decal (trade dress) must always be displayed on the front passenger windshield and rear passenger windshield facing outward. Drivers can obtain this Uber decal at their local Greenlight Hub or fill out this form to receive one by mail.

It is illegal under state and federal law for anyone, including rideshare drivers, to engage in price fixing. This includes agreeing or coordinating with other drivers (in airport staging lots or elsewhere) on pricing and surge pricing. The law requires that drivers must make decisions about pricing and surge pricing on their own.

We’re working with airports around Southern California to bring more information, features, and tips to drivers like you. We’ll keep you updated.

Staging information

To receive a pickup request at the airport, head to the Staging Lot located at 495 S. Fairview Avenue. This is where you’ll enter the FIFO queue and can wait for a pickup request. Airport rules do not allow any rideshare drivers to enter the airport unless they are picking up a rider on a trip arranged through an app.

Once you receive a pickup request, you can drive to the terminal. All riders at SBA will be instructed to meet you beyond the crosswalk near the front entrance of the terminal. You may pick up your riders anywhere along the curb.

As a reminder, airport rules designate that you may not pick up riders before the crosswalk or in any other areas at the airport.