LAX-it - no Uber or Lyft pick-ups at terminals
 

I don't like it, but can understand it because the traffic at the horseshoe is getting INSANE.

Thanks for letting us know. I don't like it, but better to learn weeks in advance than on the day.

Will Uber continue to drop off at the terminals?

According to the article, shared ride drop offs remain the same (i.e., at the upper departures terminal).

This solves which traffic congestion problem?

David

It will eliminate all the rideshares that come from the rideshare waiting lot into the loop, which is probably no small number of vehicles at this point. I've had half-hour waits at 11pm not because there weren't drivers (there were, and they accepted the ride from the lot right away), but because congestion into the loop is so bad. Replacing every 25-30 cars with a bus will hopefully make a noticeable difference. It's also pretty quick to walk from 6//7/8 back to 1 if you just have a carry on, so you won't have to wait for the bus.

I suspect they'll also switch to the queue system they've been trying at PDX: When you're headed out to the rideshare pickup point you request a ride and it gives you an ID number. Uber and Lyft each have their own vehicle queue and you get in line at the appropriate queue. When you get to the front (which has so far been instant for me), you get in with the first driver, give them the number, they put it in their phone to see where you're going and you're on your way. Much faster than the previous way, which was even starting to be slow at PDX, which isn't nearly as congested as LAX.

I just checked the link, and the change moves a lot of the shuttles around - LAX shuttles (terminal change, Lot E, employee) and Flyaway Bus move to the inner curb, hotels and private parking lots move upstairs, and private passenger pickup moves to the outer curb.

27,000 a day.

I saw that after, and it's about 27% of the traffic. If half of that (the pickups) can be replaced by buses, that's a big reduction in traffic.

Yes it is necessary. But the big question (for me at least) is what about Hertz Platinum curbside service? :)

I might head out there for Thanksgiving to find out.

The article I read said it is not just rideshare, but also all taxis. Don't they have a taxi line? It seems like it is not going to add a lot more traffic letting some taxi line up there. Now Uber and Lyft coming in from wait lot, I can see that it would reduce traffic.

Can you take the shuttle bus to the 96 st parking lot / bus station , or the Metro station at Imperial Hwy and catch an Uber from there ?

or a Hotel bus and get the Uber from there ?

Might be easier than thru the mess that this new idea will become ,

any Uber drivers out there like this idea ?

You mean Lot C on 96th? That's been gone for a while now. That might still be the bus station.

Probably.

I suspect that the central queue will go much better than everyone fears. The current situation is already unworkable if it takes 30 minutes to get from the rideshare waiting lot to the pickup at T7 at 11pm (which it sometimes does).

I probably have travel returning to LAX on the 29th, so I'm tempted to try it and see what a mess it is on day 1.

Yeah I guess it was Lot C and the map does not say if its a bus terminal , but there must be one in the area , not sure if the LAX shuttle goes there now or how often

Just trying to think of a way to get out of the central loop of LAX that everyone else would not be on ,

Dozens of people at each terminal with luggage waiting for the shuttle to Uber/Lyft/Taxi area will not be fun .

I really liked how BOS has it setup in the parking garage. Here's some pictures. The experience was a complete 180 from the total <redacted> at EWR the previous month.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7357d617e4.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f3cb30e848.jpg

LAWA has posted their press release and FAQs (PDF). Effectively, they're starting their own BRT system, with dedicated lanes for LAWA vehicles (inner curb lane of arrivals level). Enforcement will be the big question mark.

Due to the automated people mover construction, they're going to lose 30% of their inner curb space.

I'm excited for the change, it'll make for a better experience overall (though if you have tons of luggage, maybe not).

Lot C was replaced by Lot E, which is next to the Proud Bird restaurant on Aviation (halfway to the Green Line rail station). However, they still run a LAX Bus Center bus "C" to the bus terminal (which used to be next to Lot C on 96th). They still run a bus to the Metro Green Line (now "M" instead of "G").

I, too, think that it will greatly improve things for most travelers.

If you're able/have little luggage, just walk -- they've made great improvements to wayfinding and pedestrian access and that will be the fastest as opposed to the bus system.

LAS has a similar system and initially it was quite good - the driver would be assigned a berth and it would be sent to the user. My last trip to Vegas was much worse, don't know what changed in the system, but it looks like a similar approach is being used at LAX.