Graphic by Metro. The time saving column reflects the average travel time over taking a bus from the intersection of Aviation and Century.
Metro hosted a community workshop Wednesday night at Union Station on the agency’s ongoing study to connect the Metro Green Line to Los Angeles International Airport.
Four general types of alternatives using three different types of transit — light rail, an automated people mover and bus rapid transit — were discussed (see chart above). The idea is to connect the future rail station at Aviation and Century — which will serve both the Metro Green Line and the Crenshaw/LAX Line — to the airport. That station is 1.3 miles east of Terminal One at LAX.
Metro is considering the cost, convenience, travel time and reliability of each option, as well as the usual no-build and traffic improvement options. Other factors include walking distance from transit stations to the terminals as well as the length of the trip from the Aviation and Century station to the airport. The more stations, of course, the more the cost — but the less the walk to the terminals.
Given the horseshoe-shaped configuration of LAX, locating stations at the airport will be challenging. The study considered aerial and tunnel access to the airport as well as at-grade access for bus rapid transit.
An aerial view of LAX from Google Maps. The green pin in the upper right is the future Crenshaw/Aviation rail station for the Green Line and Crenshaw/LAX Line. The green pin at bottom right is the existing Green Line Aviation station. Click above for a larger image.
The community workshops are a chance for the public to participate in the planning process. Some of the comments made by meeting attendees:
•Several said they want as many airport stations as possible, to reduce walk times from transit to the ticketing area. Several attendees said that long walks — even those more than 800 feet — were not a problem.
•Several attendees said they wanted as few transfers as possible and showed a preference for light rail and vehicles that could easily accommodate luggage.
•Some attendees didn’t seem concerned about the prospect of aerial structures that may be needed for transit and some said such structures may even complement the airport’s well-known Theme Building.
No one spoke in support of a bus rapid transit option — and considerable concern about the reliability of a BRT trip to the airport when time is of the essence. Even though buses may use an exclusive, elevated busway outside the terminals, the fact that buses would share the terminal roadway with cars and other airport traffic rendered the option less reliable and desirable.
Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008, provides $200 million in funding for the Metro Green Line to LAX project. Metro planning staff explained that capital costs for the options that use rail would range from $540 million to $1.4 billion depending on the alignment and number of stations within the terminal area. As a result, other funds will be needed to construct any project.
An alternative analysis study for the project — and a report on two or three options to be carried forward into the environmental review process — is scheduled to be considered by the Metro Board of Directors at their April meeting. The next step is for Metro to begin preparing a draft environmental analysis of the project.
Public meetings will be held throughout the process and coordination with Los Angeles World Airports, the airport authority, will continue as well. A new article in The Transport Politic also offers a detailed discussion of LAX transit options. For more information on the project or to share your comments with Metro, call (310) 499-0553, visit the project website or complete a comment form.
I am in favor of the APM Circulator, as the Air Trains as JFK and Newark work quite well.
Cheers,
Dan
I am also in favor of the APM Circulator. However, I am not sure if the Green Line is the best option right now. Before the regional connector is completed, it is too inconvenient to consider the Green Line to get to LAX.
In my opinion, the FlyAway buses are the best way to get to the airport. Transit to Union Station is good all around. FlyAway buses leave on a relatively good schedule. They also deal with baggage nicely.
I would say the primary competitor to FlyAway is Green Line + Silver Line transit, which is perhaps marginally faster than taking Green + Blue + Red, which takes forever. Unfortunately the Silver Line buses are usually too packed to consider bringing luggage on board. Although FlyAway is more expensive at $7 than 3 Metro rides, I would consider it money well spent.
However, perhaps a lot of time could be saved on the end of the FlyAway trip if the bus dropped passengers off onto a APM circulator, without having to fight the horrendous traffic in front of ticketing/check in.
I prefer the straight through LAX as it’s cheaper. If you want a doorstop to the terminal, you get that by having a friend dropping you off or taking a cab to the airport.
If you want doorstop service to the terminal, pay extra by gas or cab fare. If you’re willing to walk a bit more to the terminal and get there for cheap, take the train. No need to compete everything 100%.
I agree the use of a automated people mover like AirTrain would be the most beneficial. Light rail trains would’nt have the necessary interior configurations or the frequency needed. Also it would vastly improve travel within the airport as wellfor moving between terminals.
If LAX was designed like JFK International in New York City and O’Hare International in Chicago, locating the stations would be much easiler. The horseshoe shape of LAX is quite strange from the international airports I have went and seen, but it is about time that one of America’s most important international airports get with the times and have a connector to a Metro rail system.
I think the people mover is the way to go, and my reasoning has nothing to do with transit. It’s hard to get from terminal to terminal at LAX right now, since the sidewalks are meant more for dropping off than actually, you know, walking, and the distances covered can be daunting. I’ve also found it tricky to find out which terminal my flight is leaving from (more so now with the United-Continental merger), and I’ve had to make that walk before. If there was an automated people mover like those found other major airports, it would help everyone — not just those electing to get to the airport through transit.
Pingback: Today’s Headlines | Streetsblog Los Angeles
I recently completed a trip to New York via JFK and the Air Train was the best airport connector I have ever come accross. Easy to use, fast and clean. The MTA must use this as a model.
Just as Frank M said, if you want a direct drop off in front of the terminal at LAX, you get that with the privilege of paying higher gas by having a friend drive you there or taking the cab. There’s no need for transit to compete with this.
Furthermore, a people mover or BRT following the path of the loop and making stops at all the terminals doesn’t leave room for future LAX expansion projects in mind. In addition to TBIT West that’s currently under construction, LAX is also planning the midfield concourse which has to be put into consideration. Furthermore, T1-T3 are going to be consolidated into one large North Terminal and T4-T7 to be consolidated into one large South Terminal so that airlines can share the same terminals according to their global alliances.
If a people mover or light rail to LAX is going to be made, future projects of LAX have also to be put to mind. Just like the rest of LA is changing, LAX is changing too. Let’s not build something that leaves no room for change in the future, otherwise it will end up becoming more costly down the road to rebuild it.
The LRT branch makes the most sense. It’s the fastest and cheapest way to get the job done and the cars can be designed to handle luggage. The dollars are critical; every dollar spent on this system that will handle relatively few passengers a day (compared to other LRT lines) is a dollar not spent on other rail lines that will handle more traffic. Moreover, as one poster noted, Flyaway buses already do an good job of transportation to LAX and when the 405 carpool lane is completed, the Flyaway from Van Nuys and Westwood will be much more efficient than they now are.