Salvador Airport delivers support area with more safety and comfort for ride-hailing drivers operating at the terminal

Salvador Bahia Airport, a member of VINCI Airports, will deliver this Wednesday (06) the new Support Area for ride-hailing drivers, taxi drivers, and vans operating at the terminal. The space, located two minutes from the terminal on Carybé Avenue, will be free of charge for accredited vehicles and will provide more safety and agility for drivers during waiting times for new rides.

The structure will include restroom facilities and support items, such as drinking fountains and convenience services, including food sales, through four operations selected among microentrepreneurs who already worked alongside the drivers, providing better working conditions. In the space, ride-hailing drivers will be able to wait in virtual queues with greater comfort and safety, heading to the curbside only when they have an active ride.

The creation of the Support Area is part of a set of improvements focused on mobility and safety in the airport area, which also includes the expansion of traffic lanes, increasing traffic flow, and the extension of the bike lane to the terminal.

The Support Area has 315 parking spaces and already begins operations with four food service operations confirmed. Of these, 115 spaces will be allocated to ride-hailing drivers, 40 to taxi drivers accredited by partner cooperatives, and 15 to accredited tourism vans. Excess spaces may be allocated individually to drivers from other apps or with specific demands.

To access the space, drivers will only need to present the vehicle license plate and registration in the transportation app and will have up to 1 hour and 30 minutes of stay, in order to ensure turnover for other drivers, but they may return as many times as necessary throughout the workday. In the case of taxi cooperatives, members of two cooperatives already operating at the location will have access to the spaces through identification displayed on the vehicle itself for an unlimited period, and tourism vans will be registered with the administration of Salvador Airport.

“The creation of the Support Area is the result of a structured process, which included on-site surveys to understand drivers’ needs and the dynamics of the operation. Based on this, we designated an area within the airport site specifically for this purpose, offering better conditions for ride-hailing drivers and accredited taxi drivers to wait with more organization, comfort, and safety. As a result, we improve the organization of the terminal surroundings and provide greater flow and safety in the experience of passengers and drivers,” states Julio Ribas, CEO of VINCI Airports in Brazil.

The Support Area will be managed by Indigo, the same company that manages the Airport parking garage, and all spaces will be covered, with 24-hour security and cleaning services under the responsibility of the concessionaire. At this initial stage, the operation will be manual and the installation of automated barriers is expected within up to 90 days.

Encouraging microentrepreneurship

In addition to organizing the structure, the airport also worked on the selection of the microentrepreneurs who will operate in the support area. The four food service operations planned for the area were selected among the people who had been selling informally in the improvised structure that previously existed at the site.

“Our team worked on identifying these microentrepreneurs, supported their formalization process, and referred all of them to a selection process that defined the winners, who now begin operating as registered and regulated food service businesses,” highlights Ribas.