Getting to the airport is a special kind of hell in LA. LAX is one of the reasons that the 405 freeway is generally referred to as a parking lot. There are only so many times you can convince friends to drive you there before they stop returning your phone calls. So an industry thrives on providing a cornucopia of alternatives.
Alternatives which aren’t always appealing. A taxi ride can end up costing as much as the flight itself. Super Shuttles insist you need to be at the airport days before your flight is scheduled to arrive. And airport parking lots always seem to offer the minimum peace of mind at the maximum price.
And then there is public transportation.
The Green Line lands at Aviation Blvd.A lot of major local bus lines converge at this station. It is as close to LAX as public transportation reaches (not counting the new Flyaway shuttle, which goes directly to LAX from Union Station, but also costs extra to ride). From here, you can take a shuttle to your terminal.
The station has the right ideas. Different bus lines to cater to practically every direction a rider needs to go.
Although the bus lines don’t accept each other’s passes.
A major lightrail station above the bus terminals.
Although the green line isn’t the easiest train to get to, it doesn’t travel through the best of neighborhoods, and the shuttle busses connecting to the airport could never carry even half a train full of people.
Large, well-lit areas, scattered with plenty of public seating.
Although the station is in an unpopulated area, with no shops, far from walking distance from anything, and is not staffed or patrolled on a 24 hour basis.
For the sake of traffic, sanity, and travelers, it would make more sense to have the station in or nearby LAX. Certainly there is a spare parking lot which could be used for this purpose.
But that might dent the profit margin for fleets of super shuttles and taxis.
“I saw the best minds of my generation
Destroyed by madness,
Starving,
Hysterical,
Naked”- HOWL
Alan Ginsberg
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