SAN DIEGO --

Getting to or leaving San Diego's Lindbergh Field is going to become more expensive for travelers after the San Diego Airport Authority approved an increase in fees Thursday, 10News reported.

By this summer, riding in a taxicab going in or out of the airport will have a $2.44 per trip charge added to the ride. That fee will also apply to limousines and shuttles.

Additionally, fees for travelers who park their own cars will double in most cases. Short-term parking will go from $1 to $2 for under 30 minutes. Staying an hour will get a bonus of an extra 30 minutes, but the price doubles.

Activist Karman Hamidi said the airport has plenty of money and cited the more than $2.5 million budgeted for public art.

"Their net assets have increased from $345 million in 2003 to $513 million," said Hamidi.

According to the Airport Authority, the airlines pay the lion's share of the operating budget that pays for the artwork.

Fee increases were not the most contentious part of the airport's five-year ground transportation plan. Consultants recommended the airport go with concessionaires, not independent operators, to provide cab and shuttle service.

"Please do not displace 250 small business owners that work hard seven days a week, 14 hours a day in order to service this airport," said Alex Ghebreselassie, an independent cab spokesman.

In the end, in a 5-to-3 vote, Airport Authority board members approved the fee increases.

Board member Bruce Boland said, "I have no interest in taking away your income at all."

The board left independent operators and Airport Authority staff to come up with a solution to the concession issue.

"I can't consider this a win or a loss but a tie, and the battle will continue," said Ghebreselassie.

The new fee structure goes into effect at the start of the fiscal year, July 1.

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