You’ve endured your flight and now you’ve sat in a shuttle which has taken you to a parking lot adjacent to the airport. You summon an Uber…and see there is a one-hour wait for a car. Welcome to Los Angeles!
It’s safe to say the first week of the new taxi and ridesharing pick-up lot, dubbed “LAX-it” has been an unmitigated disaster.
Who would have thought that an already-congested airport could get so much worse? But that is exactly what ridesharing users experienced over the last week, with wait times sometimes exceeding an hour.
With demand heavier than forecast and traffic still horrific on the arrivals (lower) level, passengers have experienced long wait times for shuttles and even longer waits for an Uber or Lyft once in the new offsite lot.
As we hit peak Sunday travel times, we are seeing increased passenger demand for ride apps tonight. Please be aware of longer wait times up to one hour currently as some ride apps may not have cars immediately available.
— LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) November 4, 2019
Current wait times at #LAXit
Taxis: 25 min
Uber: 30 min
Lyft: 60 min— LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) November 1, 2019
Many have complained not only about the additional delays, but the act of lugging baggage onto a bus and off it, making ridesharing and taxis virtually impossible for senior citizens, those with disabilities, or those carrying too many bags.
It Will Get Better
The good news…at least I hope…is that airport officials have been closely monitoring the situation and pledge that wait times will improve as kinks are worked out of the system.
Already, shuttles are running more frequently and new signs have been erected to reduce driver confusion. Some delays over the last week were due to regular drivers accidentally pulling into the “LAX-it” lot. Many ridesharing and taxi drivers also reported confusion over the new set-up and took wrong turns, forcing a go-around of LAX’s horseshoe-shaped terminal layout.
That will all get better. The numbers will improve.
I’m still not sure the extra shuttle is ideal, but if wait times can approximate what they were before the transition with less traffic for other airport users, I’ll call it a wash…perhaps even an improvement.
And this is all temporary as we wait for the new “people movers” to be begin operation, slated for completion in 2023.
CONCLUSION
I’ve been home the last week, but will test out the new “LAX-it” system next time I fly into LAX. It has been a rough week and the rollout revealed many issues. Hopefully, for the sake of the visitors to and residents of my city, these issues will be quickly resolved.
What has your experience been like at LAX this week?
> Read More: An Angeleno’s Reaction To Uber’s Curbside Ban At LAX
image: LAX
At first I thought this was a really stupid idea. After all, the buses will have to wait in traffic too. But I guess they have their own lane. So that makes sense.
So I think everything will work out once people (riders and drivers) figure out how to match at the lot.
With that being said, I’ve never set foot outside of LAX despite having transited dozens of times. LOL
Why can’t they use the lots inside of the horseshoe for the rideshare cars to wait in, and use the center road (that goes past the Theme Building) to keep the rideshare cars off the horseshoe roads?
No real reason why we need to keep short term parking in the horseshoe. If I remember correctly, parking there was restricted post-9/11.
@nate nate
The center road and parking lots are going to be partially demolished or inaccessible due to heavy construction for the people mover, which tracks the center road with stations in between terminals 1/7, 2/5/6, and 3/4/TBIT.
Dear Sir,
I am Uber / Lyft driver Partner, I already knew in advance as soon as they announced new parking lot,
Airport authorities have to call 10 – 20 driver Partners to get best suggestions from us, because we pick & drop riders regularly,
Before new system every 5-10 minutes 100 – 200 drivers dropping off rider at departure level and pick up the rider same time from the departure level, so crowed or standstill traffic never seen like now a days after starting new system, it’s crap as drivers are suffering a lot and there is only 1 entrance go to new parking lot as police blocked all the ways, that’s the reason stand still traffic everywhere, they must bring back old system or assign separate parking lots for Uber / Lyft / Taxis as travellers already riding the shuttle, so they don’t mind to go 1 or 3 mile away to get drop and order for Uber / Lyft / taxis…
I challenge this new system won’t work based on 1 parking for all ride share companies and with one entrance..
Airport traffic department can call me to sit with them to brain storming as I hope can give them best suggestion, which definitely will help everyone out,
Thank you for sharing.
Shuttles connecting to the metro and Union Station are still departing from the airport terminals. Passengers are free to choose public transport — or they’re free to take Uber and Lyft with the hassle of connecting at the parking lot.
Ok, Bernie
As an airport worker, I’ve found my ride time from the employee lot about 15-25 minutes shorter – down from the usual hour- and back out to the lot (from terminal 7) is the same. I’ve noticed the green buses running almost continuously, certainly no more than 5 minutes apart. I haven’t taken Uber yet, but I love the new system.
I have just returned from LAX to OTP via DOH (yes, QSuites), and first want to thank you for all the past advice on LAX. It was spot-on and homework done helped with a wonderful trip.
I managed to have a few domestic US LAX-based flights and leave before the new system was put in place but it looks horrible.
Yes, I can see where the complaints about congestion came from but as a resident in Europe I think LA has it good enough. I went all around and never had any trouble with traffic, or at least not worst than in Europe. Thus, I don’t find LAX-it justified in any way.
Thanks Lucas! Glad you had a great trip.
Few observations from Thursday and Sunday evening. Flyaway and other related shuttles now have a clear path in the interior curb, great for those who use it.
On Thursday evening (6pm) I arrived on a Flyaway and there seemed to be much less traffic than usual on the upper loop.
Heard lots of complaints about shuttles/wait times from other people. Not enough shuttles on earlier in the week when it launched but by Sunday night almost every bus was a LAX-it shuttle, they were all packed though.
It still took 30 minutes plus today to get from the Hilton in El Segundo just south of the field, to TBIT. So the ubers are certainly not the only contributor to the LAX congestion.
I think the biggest improvement to wait times (which has nothing to do with pickup location) is the new PIN-based pickup whereby a passenger can get into any Uber in a queue, and upon providing a PIN, be “matched” with their driver. I realize this mimics a taxi rank and is a departure from what Uber was founded on, it truly is more efficient in places like airports where there are hundreds of pickups at the same location.
I recall a period when no ride share pick-ups were allowed curbside at LAX. My response was to take the FlyAway to Union Station and catch an Uber to Pasadena, California, from there. If wait times don’t come down considerably from this off-site lot, I may revert back to that old strategy on trips home from LAX.
This could also lead to me choosing to use BUR more often, but, unfortunately, my travel patterns often don’t make that a very attractive alternative.
Please keep monitoring the situation for us, Matthew! (Not that you wouldn’t have … ;))
LAX-it a flaming train wreck. I fly to LAX bi-weekly and had a nice little system down. Get off my United flight, summon Lyft, quick short walk to 2nd escalator, immediately outside near rideshare pickup G. I had maybe an 8 min wait max, usually less, then on my way to Woodland Hills. This has all changed. Just to be clear, it is an hour wait once you arrive in the LAX-it lot, after you schlep to the shuttle and ride to the lot. I prefer Lyft because Uber is much more trigger happy with surge pricing, yet Lyft seems to take much longer now because there are 2 Uber lanes but only 1 Lyft lane. The fare difference at the times I checked was nearly 2X.
Tonight I decided to fly into BUR, an airport I love, but I have a connection. But for now the connection is worth it as I can be more productive, relaxed, and arrive at my destination at roughly the same time, using the data points for my particular scenario.
For me, it will be in BUR, out LAX until LAX-it becomes plausible. And I believe it will. The situation is so ridiculous that it’s categorically unsustainable for both riders and drivers. It can’t get worse (knock on tray table).
So … wait, what happened to the Park ‘n’ Fly parking lot? I just found a map, and it looks like this LAX-it lot lies on top of it. Has LAWA appropriate part of that space for LAX-it?
I have a suggestion. LAX hires SFO planners to properly formulate a long term vision that is functional and works.
LAX is a complete disaster far beyond the new horrid ride share program. My god, even JFK is now a model airport in comparison.
I’m feeling really glad I paid the extra money to fly into ONT for my trip over Thanksgiving…
Ashok’s first plane trip?
No, it’ll be his fourth this year – he actually likes flying now! But it is his first trip to his mother-in-law’s house. She wants to take him to Disneyland on Thanksgiving Day. I fear she has no idea what she’s getting herself into…
Did I miss this on your blog?
Please don’t go to Disneyland on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone has the same idea and it will be miserable. Go on a rainy Tuesday in February! 😉
You didn’t miss anything. I’ve been meaning to write up something about how he’s grown into a zen flyer but I’ve been derelict in sitting down to do it.
Trust me, the wife and I have had this conversation but there’s no changing MIL’s mind! At least she’s paying. 🙂