Plus you wouldn't have to suffer on an Avis bus that farts and sneezes its way around the terminal due to some design problem with the air brakes. That has to be the worst noise pollution out there.

Thanks for the tip. I will note on this night the first problem was Airport Blvd. was doubling as a parking lot. I was considering driving on the sidewalk to get to the car return driveway. I was the only person on the bus, and the driver did take the lower level cut thru to Terminal 7 as part of the hour adventure.

If in the future you end up on a bus with a lot of people when traffic is bad (it can still be 40 minutes through the U from T1 to T7), you can save a lot of time by getting off at T1 and walking across to T7. It used to be possible to do this on the upper level/deck 2, and also through the parking lots, but due to construction and frequent access changes, you pretty much have to do it via the sidewalks now. The most reliable route now is just to take the sidewalk on East Way across. There are lights, stop signs, and flaggers with stop signs to make it easy to get across.

I am catching a flight from T6 on a Wednesday at 8 am. I'll be coming from downtown, and debating between an uber direct from my hotel or making my way over to Union Station for the Fly Away bus. Will traffic be bad at around 6:30 am on a Wednesday going from downtown to the airport? Is it worth the extra transfer to use the Fly Away bus since it can access the terminals using the inner roadway? Or is it basically a wash? Thanks!

Depends on where you are in Downtown. The issue here is that Union Station is actually not in Downtown... more like just north of Downtown, on the other side of US-101. At that hour (~7AM), it is near the peak domestic departure time from LAX so the departure level of LAX will be fairly busy so probably take about 20~30 min from exiting the freeway to T6.

If you are anyway near I-10 or 110 freeway on ramp in Downtown LA, it will probably be faster to Uber. If you are within 1 or 2 minute walking distance to Metro station, particularly on the northside of Downtown in general, it will probably be a little faster to take FlyAway, assuming you can line up on the departure time of the FlyAway bus.

FlyAway will take a long slog from Union Station to the 110 freeway but once on the freeway, it will use the Fastrak toll lane on I-110 and HOV lane on I-105, as well as being able to navigate inside LAX in transit lane. But FlyAway will stop at all the terminals whereas you Uber will go straight to T6.

Traffic will be thick during morning commute hours. If you can, leave 30 min earlier than whatever time you originally planned no matter which method you use.

Thanks! I'm staying at the Conrad and would take the light rail to Union Station and then hop on FlyAway. I take it an uber with 2 passengers can not use the HOV lanes? Is it HOV 3+?

The Metro ExpressLanes on the Harbor Freeway, I-110, are different than most HOV lanes elsewhere in Southern California. Vehicles with two or more occupants are permitted to use those lanes at all hours of the day, however, a FasTrak Flex transponder is required.

I do hope you left earlier than 6:30 am for an 8 am flight.

And you left off the punch line - there are still Uber and Lyft drivers who don�t have transponders. It boggles the mind.

I left at 6, had no trouble with the Uber. The driver had a transponder and we used the HOV lanes.

Are there any tips/tricks for moving between LAX and the City Bus Center?
The bus service for me getting to/from LAX is actually not bad, but the shuttle bus service to the bus stop is awful. Low frequency and sporadic buses. Once the APM comes online this problem goes away but that is still some ways out.

I've tried taking the bus from the Metro C stop, but that is not faster as it's backtracking for me, and the bus moves quite slowly between the bus center and C line stop, even though the C line shuttles are 3x+ more frequent.

The Economy Parking structure is located next to the LAX City Bus Center. Have you considered taking that shuttle and walking over?

I haven't. I will give that a try next time. Thanks!

We take the 20 minute (from T1) walk to the city bus center.

Take World Way/W. Century Blvd to Vicksburg,
Left on Vicksburg 2 blocks to 96th St.
Right on 96th to the LAX city bus center.
This is NOT a scenic walk, but it's the best walk and it avoids walking along very busy Sepulveda Blvd ( thus avoiding Google map's #2 walking route and Google maps stupid #1 suggested walk -- see below).

Do NOT take the "Skyway" route shown on Google maps.
It requires pulling your luggage uphill on the overpass above Sepulveda Blvd.
It also requires a stupidly dangerous crossing, including taking luggage up and down curbs, at 96th Street.

Thanks! That route doesn't look too bad, and it's helpful to have a time-definite option too for planning. I can combine with the LAX-it pedestrian route from terminals on the other side of the horseshoe.
I have walked the Skyway route once and yeah it's very unfriendly and awful with luggage. I had another fail on another route and stopped experimenting from there. Just taking the wrong side of the street can turn into 10 more minutes of backtracking. So I thought it's time to ask for better ideas.

I've tried using the shuttle tracker too but have had hit-or-miss experiences with it - some shuttles seem to go rouge / dispatched to other routes, out of service when I want to board, etc.