Latest news with #MetroBoardofDirectors
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A trip to LAX without a car? Metro opens long-awaited LAX station
Decades after rail first broke ground in Los Angeles County, Angelenos will be one step closer to an airport connection with Friday afternoon's opening of the LAX/Metro transit center. The station at Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street will connect to the K Line and C Line and, starting next year, to Los Angeles International Airport's long-awaited automated people mover train. For now, free shuttle buses running every 10 minutes will transport travelers along the 2.5-mile route between the center and LAX. The transit center was budgeted at $900 million and includes a 16-bay bus plaza with electric bus infrastructure, a bicycle hub and a pickup and drop-off area for those who want to avoid the airport's traffic-choked horseshoe loop. Metro parking lots near the station will offer short-term parking. A ribbon cutting is planned for 1 p.m. to commemorate the center's launch and Metro is offering free rides across its system through the weekend. The station opens to the public at 5 p.m. 'When the people mover finally opens, then we will have an international airport that will connect people from literally inside the terminals to the world and beyond through Metro,' County Supervisor Janice Hahn said during a Metro Board of Directors meeting in April. From downtown, travelers headed to the transit center would board the A Line to the C Line or the E Line to the K Line. In other areas, including Redondo Beach, Norwalk, Leimert Park and Inglewood, travelers could use one line; in Pasadena and Long Beach, they would need two; those headed from Hollywood or Universal Studios would need to take three trains. Most major cities already have a direct airport rail connection. The absence at LAX has long left travelers baffled, particularly first-time visitors and international passengers expecting a world destination like Los Angeles to have streamlined transit to its main airport. A variety of factors led to the delay, including reported concerns among airport officials over potential lost parking profits, Federal Aviation Administration pushback, and competing interests over taxpayer dollars. The debate was renewed more than a decade ago and plans for the airport's people mover connection and Metro's station were ultimately approved. The station is one of Metro's "28 by 28" transit projects ahead of the Olympics. "It was such a black eye on the system and on the rail leaders that they couldn't connect Metro rail to LAX," said Ethan Elkind, a rail expert who authored 'Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City." He added that the station and the upcoming train "fills in this big missing gap in the system." Elkind said it's unclear how many residents will end up relying on the train entirely to get to the airport if they have to change lines while balancing luggage or kids. But it will likely help the employees who make the trek to the airport every day. Tens of thousands of people work at the airport, on top of the hundreds of thousands of weekly travelers. The train is the most anticipated project under the airport's $30-billion overhaul ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics and Paralympics in 2028. Airport leaders and transit experts believe the automated train will significantly ease traffic at 1 World Way. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
A water taxi for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics? One official says yes
In the wake of a new wave of 2028 Summer Olympic venues being announced, one Los Angeles County supervisor is suggesting that Metro operate a water taxi to give fans a fun way to get to events. Specifically, Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn recommended the proposed water taxi run from San Pedro to Long Beach; the latter will host 11 Olympic events in 2028, including beach volleyball, sport climbing and coastal rowing. It was recently announced that the beach volleyball event would be held in Long Beach as opposed to Santa Monica, which has long been regarded as the sport's birthplace. With the abundance of events scheduled, Supervisor Hahn believes that a new, innovative way to get people from the L.A. area to Long Beach will align with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' 'transit-first' initiative for the 2028 Games and alleviate traffic. Dodger Stadium, Universal Studios among venues for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics 'Long Beach will be the place to be in 2028 and I want us to get creative about how people will get there,' Hahn said in a media release. 'If we really want the 2028 Games to be 'transit-first,' we have to make transit fun for people, and we can't just rely on trains and buses.' Supervisor Hahn, who serves as the chair of the Metro Board of Directors and is also chair of Metro's Ad-Hoc Committee on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, pointed out that Long Beach Transit already operates a pair of water taxis: the AquaBus, which operates within Rainbow Harbor, and the AquaLink, which connects Alamitos Bay and Rainbow Harbor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
27-02-2025
- CBS News
Metro moves to expand weapon screenings to more high traffic stations
The Metro Board of Directors voted Thursday to move forward with the weapons screening pilot project, expanding it to more high-traffic train stations. Metro began the pilot program in Oct. 2024, as a trend of violence on Metro transportation was on the rise across Los Angeles. Two detection systems were tested at Los Angeles Union Station and at the APU/Citrus College Statio, one randomly scanning passengers, and the other using closed-circuit video feeds to detect people carrying weapons. According to county Supervisor and Metro Board member Janice Hahn, neither system detected any passengers carrying weapons during the five-month test, but the systems detected officers' service weapons "with 100% accuracy." Metro security officials said that the technology serves more as a deterrent to prevent people from bringing weapons onto the transit system. Security officers witnessed some people leaving the Metro stations when they saw or were told that the weapons screening systems were in use. Under the motion approved by the board, the pilot program will now expand to other "high-traffic transit stations" for a year. Metro will also conduct a year-long pilot test of detection technology on buses. "You can't bring a weapon to a concert or a Dodger game, and you shouldn't be able to bring a weapon on Metro," Hahn said. Metro has implemented other measures in hopes of increasing safety at stations and on transit. A TAP-to-exit program was introduced at a couple of its stations, where riders have to scan their transit cards to enter and exit the station. "... Upwards of 90% of the people that come into the system and commit a crime do not have a TAP card or valid fare," Carlos Rico, Metro Sr. Manager Systems of Security and Law Enforcement said. The tap-to-exit program expanded this month to Union Station.
