The LAX/Metro Transit Center is opening today—here's what you need to know

Time Out

17 hours ago

L.A. has never been exactly renowned for its public transit, but Metro is working overtime to change that—specifically in time for next year's FIFA World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and, of course, the 2028 Olympics. One huge step in the right direction? Starting today, June 6, access to the Los Angeles International Airport —one of the busiest airports in the country—will become more streamlined, thanks to the LAX/Metro Transit Center, the ambitious new station Angelenos have long been asking for.
In the words of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, today marks the 'beginning of a new era in our city.' And to celebrate the big opening, rides across the entire Metro system—rail lines, buses, Metro Bike Share and rideshare service Metro Micro—are free from Friday through Sunday.
The LAX/Metro Transit Center officially opened to mariachi music and remarks from city leaders including Mayor Bass, Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts, Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and Metro Board Chair Janice Hahn, who joked that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'Hey, can you give me a ride to LAX?' Here's hoping the new station means fielding fewer of those dreaded requests from your friends.
LAX/Metro Transit Center Station rail and bus connections
The new station, located at 9225 Aviation Boulevard, closes the final gap in the K Line, which will now run directly from Expo/Crenshaw to Redondo Beach—the airport-adjacent center fills a gap in that line that used to require you to take a bus to continue south. And it's the new terminus of the C line, which starts in Norwalk (it also connects the C and K lines—an added benefit).
If you live along the C or K lines, the station is a godsend for airport visits. But if you don't live in, say, Inglewood or Downey, will this benefit you? Well, as you can see in the map below, these lines also intersect with other lines, meaning that with just one transfer, you can find yourself on a train bound for the airport. The A line (Azusa to Long Beach) allows you to transfer to the C line, and the E line, which reaches all the way from Santa Monica through Downtown and into East L.A., meets up with the K line, meaning those riders can also map a car-free route to LAX. (Though from Santa Monica and Downtown, there are buses that can probably get you to the station more directly and quickly.)
In addition to the two light rail lines stopping at the station, the LAX/Metro Transit Center will also serve 14 bus lines—including six Metro bus lines and partner lines including the Big Blue Bus, Culver CityBus, Torrance Transit, GTrans and Beach Cities—with 16 bays for bus transfers. The station will also offer a Metro Micro bay.
What about the Automated People Mover?
Now, once you've done all the mental navigation and actual navigation of getting to the LAX/Metro Transit Center with your luggage in tow, unfortunately you're not done yet. That's when you'll need to board a free Los Angeles World Airports shuttle to LAX, which will run every 10 minutes and deposit you at your terminal. That's not a bad solution, but it's a placeholder until the long-awaited Automated People Mover is ready—which is projected to finally open in early 2026 (though you can see it doing some test runs through the station now). When that glorious day arrives, the APM will allow travelers to step onto elevated, entirely electric train cars and bypass traffic on their way to the terminals.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (@metrolosangeles)
And now for the station itself. While the idea has been decades in the making, actual construction on the nearly $900-million project began in 2021, and it's the eighth completed project in Metro's ambitious Twenty-Eight by '28 initiative—which is prioritizing projects that will provide more connectivity to major sports venues for the city's upcoming 'car-free' Olympics. The entire site of the station is approximately 500,000 square feet (the size of almost nine football fields). It boasts 11 elevators, 12 escalators and nine staircases where you can access the bus bays on the ground level or ascend and then descend to the concourse, where you'll find the light rail trains. The MTC will be able to accommodate up to 5,000 passengers an hour.
While there aren't dining and shopping options like you'll find in some cities' major transit stations, there are public restrooms, a customer service center and automated storage for 50 bikes. The visual centerpiece is an origami-like spiral sculpture, 'The Distance of the Sun,' by L.A. native artist Glenn Kaino that hangs above the escalators. Elsewhere in the station, digital displays depict 18 poignant portraits of Metro riders created by local artists.
There's still more work to be done, but the LAX/Metro Transit Center is an impressive achievement that the city and its residents can be proud of. Any step toward making the airport experience a bit easier and connecting the disparate parts of L.A. is a huge win.