Originally Posted by
stimpy
What about limousine/town car pickups? There are a lot less of those. Maybe they will still be allowed?
My guess is all TCP vehicles will have to use this system. What I have noticed is a lot of these drivers park in the central terminal area garage for their passenger and exit the parking structure.
LAWA is conspicuously silent on what will happen once the Intermodal Transfer Facility is completed (ITF West and ITF East). Based on the LAWA board meetings I watched, they are using this as a semi-pilot program to direct changes in behavior so people get used to not having a curbside pickup from LAX. The problem is that ITF West and East will be complete a few years before the Automated People Mover, and they're busy contemplating the best way to handle it. I can't remember if the Consolidated Rental Car Facility will be completed before or after the APM is complete.
Probably the best approach is to get rid of all hotel/parking lot shuttle buses looping around the central terminal area and force them to pick up all passengers at ITF West/East. Maybe allow personal vehicles with a toll, but then dedicate 1-2 lanes for just LAWA bus traffic until the APM is complete. Keep the TNC lot until the APM is complete, then make them get picked up elsewhere. The risk, however, is that LAWA gets rent/concession fees from certain providers using the central terminal area, so they don't want to cannibalize that revenue stream. It just depends on how the timing works out, as they plan on completing major roadwork over the next 10 years and re-doing a lot of the entrances/exit on/offramps to LAX.