How to check an LAX car service is licensed in California
Before you book an LAX car service, check its California TCP permit with the CPUC. What a TCP is, how to look one up, and what to ask before you ride.
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5.0 from 20 reviews on Google · TCP #45621-A · Licensed and insured
The price you see is the price you pay.
A delay is not your problem.
You know who is collecting you the night before.
A car service that takes paying passengers in California has to hold a permit from the state regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission. A licensed carrier must keep commercial insurance on file and answers to the state if something goes wrong. An unlicensed one does not. Checking takes about two minutes, and it is worth doing before anyone drives you to LAX.
Here is what the permit is, how to look one up, and what to ask before you book.
See our TCP #45621-A record on the CPUC portal
What a TCP number is
Companies that drive passengers for hire by prior arrangement, the way a chauffeur or airport car service does, are charter party carriers. The CPUC gives each one a TCP permit, short for Transportation Charter Party.
The permit number is written as TCP followed by digits and a letter, for example TCP #45621-A. A licensed company shows it on its website, its booking confirmations and its vehicles, and should give it to you if you ask.
How to look one up on the CPUC site
1. Open the CPUC carrier search, linked below.
2. Type the TCP number without the letter at the end (for our TCP #45621-A, type 45621), or type the company name.
3. In the results, tap the company name. The results list does not show the status; the company page does.
4. Check that the Authority Status reads Active and that active insurance policies are listed.
5. Check that the name matches the company you are booking. If you cannot find it, the status is not Active, or the name is different, ask the company why before you book.
What to ask before you book
Your TCP number. Then look it up, and make sure the name on the permit is the name you are booking.
Your insurance. A licensed carrier carries commercial coverage for its passengers. A personal policy on a private car is not the same thing.
A flat rate before you book. You should know the full price before the ride, with no meter running in traffic and no surge at busy times.
Flight tracking. For an airport pickup, the company should follow your flight, so an early or late landing is already planned for.
Wait time after landing. Ask how long your chauffeur waits once you land, and what happens if baggage claim is slow.
Confirmation the night before. You should hear the night before your ride, with the driver and the car named, so you know who is coming.
Where Curbside Rides shows its license
Curbside Rides is CPUC regulated, TCP #45621-A. The number is in the footer of every page on this site and links straight to our record on the CPUC portal, and our route pages state it too. The night before your ride, we confirm the driver and the car.
Related routes: LAX pickup guide, LAX airport car service, Burbank Airport new terminal, Thousand Oaks to LAX car service, Calabasas to LAX car service and Westlake Village to LAX car service.
Book a Licensed LAX Chauffeur
“We used Curbside rides for a recent transport from LAX to Thousand Oaks. Gary, our driver, was exceptional! To be picked up curbside as opposed to using rideshare, especially after a long day of travel, is much appreciated!”
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