Hoping to consolidate the six rental car companies that operate at Logan International Airport into one facility, airport officials have approved a new $4-per-day fee to vehicle renters beginning Dec. 1, according to the Boston Herald.

The “customer facility charge” was approved Sept. 19 to help fund further research and design for a new, centralized car rental facility at the Boston airport that is estimated to cost $453 million.

The consolidated facility would feature a common ticketing area and single shuttle bus service powered by low-polluting fuels, by 2012. The move would free needed space at the airport and reduce traffic, noise and emissions caused by the car rental agencies each operating their own shuttles to and from terminals.

The fee also would apply to rental car companies located outside the airport that use courtesy vehicles to transport customers from Logan to their sites and others that service airport customers who don’t hold Massachusetts licenses.

About 1 million Logan airport customers a year rent cars for an average of four days each through the on- and off-site agencies, according to the Boston Herald.