We should have years of experience with improved public transit at LAX before the Line 5 Eglinton, also known as the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT), reaches YYZ around 2031.

Terminal construction and landside access modernization at LAX is no different than anywhere else in that these projects are complex, take a lot of time, and generate an extraordinarily high degree of public interest.

Line 5 was so riddled with incompetence, graft and other assorted mayhem, there was a movement to sue the the project managers and construction companies for millions in damages. Not sure where that idea ended up - probably someone paid some cash to Ford.

LAX has the reverse problem - an organization (LAWA) riddled with incompetence, graft and other assorted third-world-like mayhem, resulting in a complete lack of oversight over project managers and construction companies, who take advantage of the chaos to do whatever they want with the project, including pushing the deadlines into whatever they feel like without repercussion provided the requisite bribes are paid.

Please provide citations to back up those claims.

The situation is pretty well known and accepted around Southern California, and often talked about. No different from the frequent corruption within the LA County Commission. Everyone knows and talks about it, but it’s rarely in the news until the FBI shows up with a search warrant.

The proof is in the pudding - LAWA failed to supervise LINX properly, failed to hold them accountable, and were repeatedly run over by LINX incompetence and borderline criminal behavior making countless unapproved changes to the project on the fly and submitting billable change orders for unapproved changes with LAWA agreeing to pay a considerable amount of these change orders while still failing to supervise the project. A never ending cycle of multi year incompetence with each party trying to outdo the other with miscreant behavior.

I’m sure plenty more surprises await once real testing gets underway.

In other words, you have absolutely nothing to substantiate your accusations of grafts and bribes.

Agreed. For what it's worth, every internal and external source has suggested a combination of incompetence, mismanagement, and failure to perform on the part of everyone involved in the project, from LINXS to LAWA to other LA City departments. Plus COVID impacts on top.

The train manufacturer delivered the final vehicle years after the project was first scheduled to begin operating. The CEO of LAWA is on tape admitting that other City agencies failed to meet the permit review timelines promised to LINXS. From construction management reports, it appears a single LAFD inspector went rogue and mandated a complete electrical system redesign after its construction was already complete. LINXS and its electrician are suing each other claiming shoddy work and withheld payments, respectively. LINXS and its lead engineer are suing each other, too.

And on top of this LINXS is a JV -- so internally you have the train manufacturer arguing with the engineers arguing with multiple different contractors over which party is responsible for which portion of the delays. Even if the financial liabilities of each JV member are predetermined, it's an easy way for overall progress and collaboration to break down.

I think this is why the project is so delayed -- when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible.

Yah - there's no way that folks are that incompetent.

David

Getting to the Economy Parking/ITF West pickup/dropoff still sucks because the surface streets that feed them are bottlenecks. From the 110/105 you end up having to go through the Sepulveda tunnel, which isn't bad at the times I travel, but can but can be a nightmare northbound at peak times because the tunnel feeds the horseshoe traffic, too. Aproaching from the northeaast east you end up on one of a few feeder roads or residential streets that also all get blocked up at peak times. Or mixed in with the Sepulveda southbound traffic that's also trying to get into the horseshoe.

I don't ever go to the ITF East/ConRAC, so I'm not sure how that will be. It's closer to the 405 so you have less traffic before you get to the giant parking lot of the 405.

It's LA - It's all parking lot.

David

Just curious, what are the long-term plans for:

1) Northern end of TBIT, containing gates 135, 137, 139, and 141? I believe this building is a remnant of the old TBIT terminal. Are they eventually going to demolish this area and extend the main terminal ?

2) Southern end of TBIT West. On a top-view on google maps, there appears to be a hangar to the west, but the pavement beyond gate 225 appears to have been excavated.

None of the maps seem to gave gotten updated yet, but south of Gate 225 is nowadays the Midfield Satellite Concourse South. Mainly for Spirit and Frontier:
https://www.lawa.org/transforminglax...se-south---msc

That's the American Airlines hangar. There are no present plans to relocate it.

Has Los Angeles World Airports considered selling the movie rights to this epic public-works fiasco? They could recoup some of the cost overruns. Maybe pass out flyers to people crawling through the horseshoe.

LAWA doesn't care if they lose more money.

Sadly.

David