Three things to know:
•Riders on the Hollywood, Long Beach and Westwood FlyAway routes can now use stored value on TAP cards and TAP EZ passes to buy a ticket on the bus with TAP validators on the bus.
•Riders on the Union Station and Van Nuys routes can complete their TAP purchases at the ticket counters at Union Station and Van Nuys, respectively.
•The cost of a one-way ride on the Westwood and Long Beach will be $8. That’s a $2 discount for Westwood riders and $1 discount on the Long Beach line.
The news release from Los Angeles World Airports:
Just in time for the upcoming holiday travel season, the FlyAway non-stop bus service, which provides direct transportation to and from each of Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) terminals, will begin accepting LA Metro’s Transit Access Pass (TAP) card and EZ Transit Passes as payment options beginning Wednesday, November 1. Riders who use a TAP card or EZ Transit Pass to pay for their FlyAway trip may enjoy reduced fares depending on the route, loaded EZ Pass zone, and method of payment.
This initiative, which will make it easier to access public transportation to LAX, is in line with the sustainability goals set forth by Mayor Eric Garcetti in his “Sustainable City pLAn,” which includes the goal of expanding high-quality transit options across the city. It also is in line with the goals laid out in Los Angeles World Airport’s Strategic Plan, as presented by CEO Deborah Flint and approved by the Board of Airport Commissioners.
“Adding TAP cards and EZ Transit Passes as accepted payment options make the FlyAway service a convenient choice for millions of card-carrying riders across the Los Angeles area, and we’re ready to welcome them,” said Keith Wilschetz, Deputy Executive Director for Operations and Emergency Management for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). “With a simple ‘tap’ of a card, Metro and LAWA are improving the LAX guest experience by making non-stop access to LAX on the FlyAway easier than ever.
Instead of purchasing tickets online using a credit card, holders of active TAP cards and TAP-EZ Transit Passes with sufficient stored value will be able to complete transactions for any FlyAway® route via TAP card readers. For riders at Union Station and Van Nuys, customer service representatives will assist customers with using TAP readers at each routes’ respective FlyAway® ticket counter. For riders of the Hollywood, Long Beach, and Westwood routes, TAP readers will be located inside the FlyAway® shuttle.
The new payment options will also provide discounts for some TAP card and EZ Transit Pass holders. Riders on the Westwood and Long Beach FlyAway® routes who pay using a TAP card’s stored value will pay only $8, a discount of from the routes’ regular price of $10 and $9, respectively. Pricing for the Hollywood, Orange Line, Union Station and Van Nuys routes will remain the same whether the transaction is completed with TAP card stored value or by credit or debit card.
Riders using an EZ Transit Pass will pay an upcharge that varies depending on the EZ zones loaded onto the TAP card. Depending on which zone is loaded onto the TAP card, EZ Transit Pass users may be able to ride the FlyAway® service for no additional upcharge. More information on upcharges and zones can be found by visitinghttp://www.laxflyaway.org .
TAP cards with insufficient stored value will be registered as invalid, and will require purchase with a valid debit or credit card. Though no advanced purchase or reservation is required when purchasing FlyAway® with a TAP card, seating is determined on a “first come, first served” basis.
The FlyAway® service operates non-stop, direct service to and from each terminal at LAX, and serves six locations:Hollywood, Long Beach, Metro Orange Line (Woodley Station, San Fernando Valley), Union Station, Van Nuys, and Westwood.More than 1.6 million people used the FlyAway® bus service in 2016, and the service improved air quality by reducing CO2-equivalent emissions by over 6,900 metric tons.
Categories: Go Metro
The TAP situation on the Flyaway between LAX and Union Station was always somewhat less than ideal. For about a year or so, there actually was TAP on the buses and I enjoyed my trips very much. Now we have to go back and stand in line at the counter or pre-pay our ticket which seems like a major step backwards.
Not to mention recently that the Flyaway took 75 minutes to get from LAX to Union Station during rush hour. On top of waiting 25 mins for the Flyaway this trip took 100 minutes. The G shuttle comes every 10 minutes, and from Aviation to the Silver Line to Union Station takes about an hour on the schedule. I only take the Flyaway because I don’t have to jostle with people on the Silver Line, but for $2.50 instead of $10, it would be nice for someone to look at the routing for the Flyaway during rush hour and figure out why the Silver Line can beat them.
If you want to purchase a LAX Flyaway ticket you can also use the Metrolink ticket vending machines
There are a total of 5 TVMs at the Aviation/LAX station. Two located on the east, one in the middle, Two on the west end.
This is progress. But whyyyy do we still have to deal with a ticket counter at Union Station? It’s ridiculous that we can’t have our pre-purchased tickets (and now TAP cards) scanned as we enter/exit the bus. It’s nice to have TAP as a new method to pay, but this doesn’t save any time at Union Station if we still have to line up at the ticket counter.
The other option is to buy a ticket with your phone and credit card. The FlyAway folks then scan your phone when you step off the bus — no dealing with counter. As for TAP, it’s relatively easy when outbound from Union Station if there’s no line at counter. Inbound (I’ve found) is the bigger pain. The obvious issue is getting validators on all the buses. Not sure when that’s going to happen.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
This is still not good for the following reason (real life example):
I rode Metro(rail) to Union Station. Bought my FlyAway tickets (to LAX and return in the same transaction). Flew for some vacation and returned. As I was preparing to come home a relative picked me up (this had not been my plan, I tried to dissuade them until the door closed on the plane). So at LAX I stepped out to the FLyAway boarding area and asked the only person at that pick location if they were headed to Union Station and did they already have a ticket. Yes they were and no they did not. I handed them my paper ticket and said ‘Enjoy’. You can’t do that with your cell phone. With a TAP validator on the bus there would be no reason to buy the return ahead of time (as there is now). Thus no wasted ticket if some becomes available to pick you up.
There’s 5 TAP machines at Aviation station. 2 at each bottom of the stairs and 1 by the elevator.
For Westwood to/from LAX, take Culver City 6 or 6R, not the Flyaway!
In my experience, the Flyaway from Westwood is unreliable, rarely on time (for “hourly” service), uses old noisy rattling vans with no shocks that jolt your neck and back as you bounce down 405, and their rude drivers whiz by the stops at LAX. Some years back they were every 30 minutes, but then LAWA announced a new contract that “saved money” – the announcement didn’t explain how – but this savings was accomplished by changing to an hourly schedule. The Westwood Flyaway is the worst public transit “service” in the city.
Can TAP be used boarding from the airport?
Hi Zeng —
You have to go to the ticket counter at Union Station to pay with TAP.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
It’s kind of surprising, and disconcerting, that the Van Nuys and Union Station lines don’t get the same benefit of TAP on board to speed up and ease the boarding process, as well as the discount for those lines and the Hollywood line. Hopefully this will happen sometime in the future, but who knows.
I agree, though I think that the reason behind this is that the ridership is much higher on the Union Station and Van Nuys lines. It would be nice to get a uniformed discount across the board, especially to promote the usage of TAP
I just used public transportation (the Green Line, not a FlyAway bus) to get from LAX to my home in the South Bay.
But I do have a TAP related question — why is there only one TAP machine at the Aviation / LAX station for the Green Line ? This is the point of entry for any visitor who comes to LA and wants to use public transit. There invariably is a long line when the LAX G shuttle bus arrives and multiple first-time users try to figure out how to buy and load a TAP card.
I would think that the Aviation / LAX station is the one place in the system where you would want to have multiple TAP machines to ease the wait times.
Hi Bob;
Good question. We’ll send this along to the TAP team.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source