Los Angeles Metro Solicits Public Input on AirRail Connections
Monday, 05 Sep 2011 09:14
This pause (before the official scoping of a study and the initiation of an environmental review process) provides an opportunity to offer suggestions on the critical success factors of a rail link to/from LAX from an international perspective.
Background
LAX, the largest international airport on the West Coast of the U.S. is operated by a department of the City of Los Angeles known as Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). In the fiscal year ending June 2011, LAX accommodated nearly 58 million annual passengers (MAP), approximately 16 million international.
Metro is a County agency and its primary role is as the operator and developer of a significant portion of the County’s rail and bus transit services. Multiple agencies provide public transport; Metro is by far the largest with an average of 1.4 million riders each average workday travelling an extensive network of bus, light rail, and commuter rail network.
Within LA County there are 88 cities, including Los Angeles, and nearly 10 million residents. The City of Los Angeles estimates there were nearly 24 million overnight visitors to Los Angeles in 2010, over 20% of who originated outside the U.S.
It is a complicated political environment that explains, in part, the delays in garnering consensus and implementing improvements at one of the largest international airports in the U.S.
Metro and LAWA are two different agencies, with separate governing bodies and roles and responsibilities. However, these two agencies share common ground in the planning and development of surface transportation infrastructure that serves LAX.
In 2008, in the midst of the “Great Recession”, Los Angeles County voters proposed a ballot measure to increase the County’s sales taxes by ½ cent for the express purpose of raising $40 billion to fund transportation improvements. The initiative, called Measure R, was approved and identifies specific projects that would be funded. The Measure gave responsibility to Metro to oversee the planning and expenditure of these funds. http://www.metro.net/projects/measurer/
Within Measure R are 15 rail projects, and upon completion, will double the rail service provided for users of transit in Los Angeles. One of these rail projects is the completion of a direct link into LAX. The project is known as the Metro Green Line to LAX.
Have your say
Recognizing that LAX is undergoing a revision to its Master Plan, which includes ground access, Metro is soliciting input on a number of ‘modes’. The three public meetings held last week were forums, where attendees could see from posters and videos background information on the LAX Green Line project and three options currently being explored. These include a direct rail link into the passenger terminal area, the second option explores Bus Rapid Transit, and a third links the airports terminals and Metro’s transit stop(s) with an automated people mover (APM).
http://www.metro.net/projects/lax-extension/completed-meetings/
Measure R provides $200 million to this project. While this is a sizable sum, some officials speculate that it would cover only a portion of a project that is intended to reduce traffic congestion and best serve airport users and local employees with a level of transportation expected from a world-class city. Additional funds may depend on LAX and its vision and capacity for the best options for improving ground access, concurrently being explored within a plan called the LAX Specific Plan Amendment Study (SPAS).
Planners and engineers who participated in the forum held at the Flight Path Learning Center at LAX were well versed on the many physical constraints to building an AirRail link to LAX. Let’s assume that world class engineering can overcome many of these challenges. However, the lessons learned from the limited number of AirRail links here in the U.S., described on posters at the public meetings, don’t provide a clear answer on what is best for the potential users of the system.
Before dictating projects to schematics needed to evaluate environmental impacts, Metro’s public forums are initiating a process requesting input on what would be expected from users of AirRail links.
The future of Los Angeles is changing as construction is underway. International travel to and from LAX will soon be enhanced with the opening of new international gates (Bradley West) a refurbished international terminal. Along with this are numerous major transportation improvements projects, including new light rail corridors and system extensions, many of which will be completed over the next 3 to 5 years.
For the many airrail NEWS readers who did not have an opportunity to attend last week’s events, if you have comments, questions or concerns, they can be submitted via an LAX User Questionnaire found on Metro’s website. http://www.metro.net/projects/lax-extension
Background
LAX, the largest international airport on the West Coast of the U.S. is operated by a department of the City of Los Angeles known as Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). In the fiscal year ending June 2011, LAX accommodated nearly 58 million annual passengers (MAP), approximately 16 million international.
Metro is a County agency and its primary role is as the operator and developer of a significant portion of the County’s rail and bus transit services. Multiple agencies provide public transport; Metro is by far the largest with an average of 1.4 million riders each average workday travelling an extensive network of bus, light rail, and commuter rail network.
Within LA County there are 88 cities, including Los Angeles, and nearly 10 million residents. The City of Los Angeles estimates there were nearly 24 million overnight visitors to Los Angeles in 2010, over 20% of who originated outside the U.S.It is a complicated political environment that explains, in part, the delays in garnering consensus and implementing improvements at one of the largest international airports in the U.S.
Metro and LAWA are two different agencies, with separate governing bodies and roles and responsibilities. However, these two agencies share common ground in the planning and development of surface transportation infrastructure that serves LAX.
In 2008, in the midst of the “Great Recession”, Los Angeles County voters proposed a ballot measure to increase the County’s sales taxes by ½ cent for the express purpose of raising $40 billion to fund transportation improvements. The initiative, called Measure R, was approved and identifies specific projects that would be funded. The Measure gave responsibility to Metro to oversee the planning and expenditure of these funds. http://www.metro.net/projects/measurer/
Within Measure R are 15 rail projects, and upon completion, will double the rail service provided for users of transit in Los Angeles. One of these rail projects is the completion of a direct link into LAX. The project is known as the Metro Green Line to LAX.
Have your say
Recognizing that LAX is undergoing a revision to its Master Plan, which includes ground access, Metro is soliciting input on a number of ‘modes’. The three public meetings held last week were forums, where attendees could see from posters and videos background information on the LAX Green Line project and three options currently being explored. These include a direct rail link into the passenger terminal area, the second option explores Bus Rapid Transit, and a third links the airports terminals and Metro’s transit stop(s) with an automated people mover (APM).
http://www.metro.net/projects/lax-extension/completed-meetings/
Measure R provides $200 million to this project. While this is a sizable sum, some officials speculate that it would cover only a portion of a project that is intended to reduce traffic congestion and best serve airport users and local employees with a level of transportation expected from a world-class city. Additional funds may depend on LAX and its vision and capacity for the best options for improving ground access, concurrently being explored within a plan called the LAX Specific Plan Amendment Study (SPAS).
Planners and engineers who participated in the forum held at the Flight Path Learning Center at LAX were well versed on the many physical constraints to building an AirRail link to LAX. Let’s assume that world class engineering can overcome many of these challenges. However, the lessons learned from the limited number of AirRail links here in the U.S., described on posters at the public meetings, don’t provide a clear answer on what is best for the potential users of the system.
Before dictating projects to schematics needed to evaluate environmental impacts, Metro’s public forums are initiating a process requesting input on what would be expected from users of AirRail links.
The future of Los Angeles is changing as construction is underway. International travel to and from LAX will soon be enhanced with the opening of new international gates (Bradley West) a refurbished international terminal. Along with this are numerous major transportation improvements projects, including new light rail corridors and system extensions, many of which will be completed over the next 3 to 5 years.
For the many airrail NEWS readers who did not have an opportunity to attend last week’s events, if you have comments, questions or concerns, they can be submitted via an LAX User Questionnaire found on Metro’s website. http://www.metro.net/projects/lax-extension
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Maxine Scheer President Scheer Intellingence www.scheerintelligence.com |
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Richard Brown Managing Director North Star Consultancy www.northstarconsultancy.com |
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