Originally Posted by
IADCAflyer
I don't know if I would say that traffic at LAX is overblown. I missed a flight at LAX because of the traffic - 2 years ago. It took 90 minutes to from from the Westin on Century to T1. I got out and ran from T1 and still didn't make it.
However, I flew two weeks ago from LAX (same time of day) and it took about 15 minutes to get from the rental car lot (not too far from the Westin) to T4.
It's the inconsistency that makes it more difficult, and the alternates around the choke points have been getting clogged up, too. Back when they had Lot B, you could get off at Aviation, park there, and take the shuttle pretty reliably. It's farther than lot C, but I think it was $1/day cheaper and less traffic to get to. Lot B buses ran more frequently on the return, too. The bus went up Aviation so it avoided the tunnel. Things got worse with Uber and Lyft because they've essentially replaced the shared-ride shuttle services (Supershuttle, Primetime, and the third one that went out of business a long time ago) with a larger number of single-trip vehicles. The shuttles were unappealing because they always wanted to pick you up 4 hours before your flight and they cost as much as a Lyft or Uber. The increased number of vehicles has really jammed the entry points to the airport - there were only three shared ride services because there had previously been no restriction and there were large numbers of shared ride vans (sometimes single vehicle companies) circling the loop and clogging up traffic. The reduction in the size of Lot C by ~2/3 has also made it even worse to drive yourself - it's basically maxed out all the time, as are many of the more expensive private lots if you didn't book in advance, which forces more people to take Uber and Lyft and clog up the airport entry...