ianmanka

Yeah, the LAWA Commissioners had several questions about it in the most recent Board report, how the experience would work for riders, and basically the answer was "it depends on the TNC." Meaning the deployment is contingent on the app being used, each company has their own approach based on other airport deployments these companies have done, but I think both Lyft and Uber were going to use the code approach.

They said that based on their data, the average TNC dwell time in the Central Terminal Area per car (during peak hours) was 1 minute, 48 seconds (or maybe that's the expected dwell time, it was unclear in the presentation), and they feel that this new approach will reduce a lot of that time. Also they have done a bunch of statistical models trying to figure out best practices for traffic flows and staffing.

They will also be continuously monitoring data, with specific escalation methods if something isn't working in a hour/day/month. They gave an example of the escalation methods with respect to exit queue length in the LAWA staff report:

LIH Prem

the 3&4 shuttle does seem to be a bad idea. Maybe it will work or they will adjust it after it starts.

-David

Eurynom0s

Presumably they're expecting heavier passenger loads, or at least higher simultaneous peak passenger loads, from TBIT? Kinda makes sense since TBIT serves much larger aircraft than the other terminals.

JohnnyTables

I arrive most often at T4. Does anyone want to take a shot at describing the most efficient walking route to LAX-it? Looking at various maps, it looks like there is lots of potential for shaving off a few minutes, but it's hard to be sure where there are fences and crossing lights without exploring manually.

Routes from Terminals 1-4 and B seem more obvious.

JBD

FWIW -

They've updated their main "About LAXit" page with a spiffy countdown clock, a video and an interactive map where you click on your terminal and you're shown how long the shuttle will take, and how long a walk will take.

https://www.flylax.com/en/lax-it

chrisl137

Fastest if you're a fast walker might be to just walk along the horseshoe in front of TBIT and then east T3-T2-T1. It avoids all the delays of waiting for lights to change.

Shortest is probably straight across one of the crosswalks to P4, head east along the sidewalk along 4, and then north when you get to west way, taking that all the way across center way to the sidewalk at T3, then head east along 3-2-1 again. Depending on how crowded the sidewalks are and whether you're hauling luggage, you might save some time by taking one of the "hidden" sidewalks, like east along Center Way, but the traffic lights can be long and eat up any savings.

ianmanka

The crosswalks are the biggest time suck of any CTA pedestrian activity. I've waited more than three minutes for a light to change to enable a pedestrian crossing. I don't know if they've changed timing as part of LAX-it.

With new LAX-it, there's a protected walking lane on the inner loop (inside the islands). However, it's likely to be filled with people not knowing where they're going, so it's probably best to stay next the terminals and walk along the horseshoe, though in certain construction areas, the sidewalk next to the terminal is quite narrow.

chrisl137

Are you referring to the new 4' of sidewalk? People will probably be confused an leave it clear for about a week and then fill it with luggage and empty carts. I thought I saw something about the other sidewalks being made wider, too, but it's going to be interesting for a while.

Some of the lights across Center Way and East and West Way you can walk against, but the lights to cross World Way are eternal. Once it's all done you might be able to walk all the way across at the upper level, but by then I'll probably be retired and not flying much.

bzcat

The fastest walking route from T4 to LAXit is probably thru the parking garages to T3 then north side terminal sidewalk. This is basically two straight lines and avoids all red lights and the slight detours required walking from T6 to T2 via theme building.

Fastest route: T4 departure (upper) level to T4 garage connector, go down a level and walk to T3 garage to T3 garage connector, go up a level to T3 departure level, then to curb side sidewalk to T2 to T1 to LAX-it.

Shortest route: T4 arrival (lower) level to sidewalk to T5 to crosswalk between T5 and T6, then cut thru the parking lot in front of T6 to East Way (east side or right of theme building), the north to crosswalk between T1 and T2, the terminal curb side sidewalk to LAX-it.

Note that fastest route is not likely the shortest route because the shortest route require 4 street crossings that will each take at least 2 minutes wait time.

LAX2Anywhere

I've walked T4 to Park n Fly lot a few times - where LAXit now sits on part of the lot.
I've used a couple different routes - Along the upper or lower level past TBIT then past T3-T1; or the other way to T5/6then across to the T1 side and over to the lot. Time-wise it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference - about 15 minutes from the gate in T4 to the lot.

nsx

If you don't like the LAX-itive solution, there is a simple way to speed your trip. Walk to Sepulveda and Century. It's 4 minutes from Terminal 1. From there you can catch a city bus or hail a ride without delay. Take the LA 232 bus south, LA 117 east, or Torrance 8 bus southeast.

I predict this option will become so popular that bureaucrats will kill it within 6 months.

ajGoes

According to this LA Times story, it's going reasonably smoothly so far, with some inevitable confusion among incoming passengers. I love this bit: "The lack of honking and idling cars [on the arrivals level] created an eerily quiet atmosphere on the once-chaotic sidewalks next to the terminal." I've often wondered how many arriving tourists considered going back into the terminal to catch a flight home, their hearts sinking as their first experience of Los Angeles was a stinky, noisy, seemingly interminable wait for a shuttle in the claustrophobic arrivals cave.

I'll be interested to hear FTers' experiences with the new system.

stimpy

It'll be interesting to see how it functions during the Thanksgiving holiday period.

ianmanka

Local news featured travelers who claimed to wait "45 minutes to an hour" with no shade (except the limited green awnings), plus some news helicopter footage of a long line down the sidewalk islands. The news reporter did say the caveat that the traffic experience in the Central Terminal Area was very smooth and quick, so it appears to be doing its job of reducing congestion. They also said the shuttles going to the LAX-it lot were quick.

I think it might because of a driver supply issue - the drivers (one of whom interviewed said it was crazy) are confused and might be waiting it out to see how much of a mess it is and waiting for the kinks to be worked out.

During the newscast live shot, it looked like LAWA employees in street clothes had jumped in to assist directing cars through the LAX-it lot.

Curious to hear what more experienced (e.g. FTers) have to say once they experience it.

I Love to Travel

My wife’s flight to Burbank on SWA was delayed this afternoon so she switched it at the gate to LAX. When she saw the signs for LAX-it by Term 1, someone said it would be about an hour wait. She decided to walk across Sepulveda to the Hyatt and request her Uber there. Driver showed up in 3 minutes.