General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other names | East ITF (Intermodal Transportation Facility) Aviation/96th Street Airport Metro Connector (Internally) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Los Angeles, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 33°57′00″N118°22′42″W / 33.9501280°N 118.3784392°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owned by | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 island platform (Metro) 1 island platform (APM) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 4 (2 Metro, 2 APM) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Structure type | At-grade (Metro) Elevated (APM) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parking | Paid parking nearby | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | Metro Bike Share | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architect | Grimshaw Architects | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Under construction [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | metro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opening | 2025 (Metro) [2] 2026 (APM) [3] [4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous names | Aviation/96th Street | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Future services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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LAX/Metro Transit Center station (called the East ITF by LAX and known as Aviation/96th Street station during planning) is an under construction light rail transport hub in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, located near Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street in the Westchester district of Los Angeles. The station was designed as a station for the C and K lines. [5] It will serve as the transfer point between Metro Rail and the LAX Automated People Mover (APM) serving the Los Angeles International Airport terminals and facilities. Additionally, the station will have connections to Metro Bus, other municipal bus lines, a customer service center, and a Metro Bike Share hub. [6] Metro is scheduled to start serving the station sometime in 2025, although the APM connection is not scheduled to open until early 2026.
Various proposals have been made to connect Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) by rail since the 1960s. [7] Development of the Los Angeles Metro Rail C Line (formally the Green Line) in the late 1980s proposed extending the line north from the Aviation/LAX station towards LAX, either serving the terminals directly or nearby at Lot C, with the use of a people mover to connect to the terminal buildings. [8] [9] However, these plans were canceled in 1992 following disagreements with the Federal Aviation Administration and politicians who wanted the line to focus on local communities. [9] Some advocates criticized Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) for wishing to preserve parking revenues. [9] When the C Line opened in 1995, the closest station to the airport was 2.4 miles (3.9 km) away at Aviation/LAX station, where a free LAX Shuttle was provided. [10]
In the 1990s and 2000s, the development of the Metro K Line once again considered connecting the Metro Rail system to LAX, as parts of the proposed line ran nearby on Aviation Boulevard. [7] [11] The project would also connect the C Line to the K Line tracks at a new wye near the Aviation/LAX station, allowing the C Line to serve the airport. [11] Construction of the light rail line began in January 2014 without a station directly at LAX. The plan was to connect one of the line stations to the future LAX Automated People Mover, which would transport passengers directly to the airport terminals and facilities. [12]
Initially, Metro thought the K Line's Aviation/Century station would connect with the people mover (APM) with the intention that the APM would run along Century Boulevard. However, the APM plan approved in June 2014 called for it to intersect with the K Line at 96th Street, about half a mile to the north. This required Metro to design an additional station while the overall line was still under construction. [13] Later that year, Metro approved the planning and scoping of the new station, which was called Aviation/96th in planning documents but was ultimately designated LAX/Metro Transit Center station. [14] Official approval was given in December 2016, and construction began in 2021. [15] [16]
Designed by Grimshaw Architects, [17] the LAX/Metro Transit Center station is slated to open in late 2024. [18] Due to construction delays, the connection to the LAX Automated People Mover will open later in December 2025. [3] As of December 2024 [update] , citing Metro’s October 2024 Schedule Update, the overall project is 94% complete and the primary station construction is at 92.7% completion. [19] Upon opening, the station will serve both the C and K lines. [5]
Plans show a parking facility would also be built adjacent to the station. However, construction of the structure may be delayed. [20] Various planned road improvements are shown as "not triggered" in Appendix B of the LAMP 2021 Annual Progress Report. [21]
The station will replace the LAX City Bus Center and the Aviation/LAX station and is expected to be served by the following routes: [22] [23]
Operator | Route | Bay | Destination |
---|---|---|---|
Beach Cities Transit | 109 | 9 | Redondo Beach Pier |
Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica) | 3 | 4/5 | Santa Monica |
Rapid 3 | |||
Culver CityBus | 6 | 7 | UCLA |
Rapid 6 | |||
GTrans (Gardena) | 5 | 10 | Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station |
Los Angeles Metro Bus | 102 | 8 | South Gate |
111 | 13 | Norwalk | |
117 | 12 | Downey | |
120 | 11 | Whittier | |
232 | 15 | Long Beach | |
LAX Shuttle [a] | M | 1/2 | Los Angeles International Airport |
Torrance Transit | 8 | 6 | Torrance |
This station will feature a sculpture designed by Glenn Kaino, an conceptual artist based in Los Angeles. Called The Distance of the Sun, the sculpture is made up of vessels joined together, creating a spiral pathway suspended in the air. These ships symbolize the universal dreams of spaceflight and represent the importance of collaboration and imagination. The piece will connect to the station's ceiling, making the ships climb to the heavens, referencing the short story The Distance of the Moon. [24]
Metro has proposed to make this station the southern terminus for Phase 2 of the Sepulveda Transit Corridor. Metro is in the route planning stage for Phase 1 of the corridor as of 2024 [update] with completion planned for around 2040. Metro has also proposed the LAX/Metro Transit Center station as the southern terminus for the Lincoln Boulevard Transit Corridor bus rapid transit line with a completion date of 2047. Both projects are funded by Measure M. [25] [26] [27]
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, 18 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, with the commercial and residential areas of Westchester to the north, the city of El Segundo to the south, and the city of Inglewood to the east. LAX is the closest airport to the Westside and the South Bay.
The Los Angeles Metro Rail is an urban rail transit system serving Los Angeles County, California, United States, consisting of six lines: four light rail lines and two rapid transit lines, serving a total of 102 stations. The system connects with the Metro Busway bus rapid transit system, the Metrolink commuter rail system, as well as several Amtrak lines. Metro Rail is owned and operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).
Hollywood/Highland station is an underground rapid transit station on the B Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located under Hollywood Boulevard at its intersection with Highland Avenue, after which the station is named, in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollywood.
The Harbor Subdivision is a single-track main line of the BNSF Railway which stretches 53 miles (85 km) between rail yards near downtown Los Angeles and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach across southwestern Los Angeles County. It was the primary link between two of the world's busiest harbors and the national rail network. Mostly displaced with the April 15, 2002 opening of the more direct Alameda Corridor, the Harbor Sub takes a far more circuitous route from origin to destination, owing to its growth in segments over the decades. The subdivision was built in this fashion beginning in the early 1880s to serve the ports and the various businesses that developed along it.
The C Line is a 17.8-mile (28.6 km) light rail line running between the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westchester and the city of Norwalk within Los Angeles County, California. It is one of six lines forming the Los Angeles Metro Rail system and opened on August 12, 1995. Along the route, the line also serves the cities of Downey, Hawthorne, and Lynwood, as well as several unincorporated communities in the South Los Angeles region including Athens, Del Aire, and Willowbrook. The fully grade-separated route runs mainly in the median strip of Interstate 105 for its latitude portion and in a mixture of viaducts, embankments, and an open trench for its western leg. A free shuttle bus to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is available at Aviation/LAX and Aviation/Century stations.
Aviation/LAX station is an elevated light rail station on the C Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located over Aviation Boulevard, after which the station is named, near its intersection with Imperial Highway and south of Century Freeway in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles, California and immediately adjacent to the Del Aire neighborhood. It opened as part of the Green Line on August 12, 1995. The station was initially named Aviation Blvd/I-105, but in 2003, it was renamed Aviation/LAX to highlight its proximity to Los Angeles International Airport.
The K Line is a light rail line in Los Angeles County, California. It is one of six lines in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), and is the newest named line in the system, having opened on October 7, 2022. The line currently consists of two separate noncontiguous segments. The 5.9-mile (9.5 km) northern segment runs north–south between the Jefferson Park and Westchester neighborhoods of Los Angeles, passing through various South Los Angeles neighborhoods and the city of Inglewood. The southern segment runs north–south between the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles and the city of Redondo Beach.
This article covers streets in Los Angeles, California between and including 41st Street and 250th Street. Major streets have their own linked articles; minor streets are discussed here.
Measure R was a ballot measure during the November 2008 elections in Los Angeles County, California, that proposed a half-cent sales taxes increase on each dollar of taxable sales for thirty years in order to pay for transportation projects and improvements. The measure was approved by voters with 67.22% of the vote, just over the two-thirds majority required by the state of California to raise local taxes. The project was touted as a way to "improve the environment by getting more Angelenos out of their cars and into the region's growing subway, light rail, and bus services." It will result in the construction or expansion of a dozen rail lines in the county.
The Sepulveda Transit Corridor is a two-phased planned transit corridor in Los Angeles, California. Its first phase aims to connect the San Fernando Valley to the Los Angeles Basin through the Sepulveda Pass. A second phase would further extend the line southwards to connect with Los Angeles International Airport. The corridor is intended to relieve the heavily congested I-405 freeway through Sepulveda Pass and provide a fast public transit option on this North-South link. Proposed alternatives include heavy rail rapid transit or a monorail line connecting the G Line in the Valley to the D Line and E Line on the Westside, and the K Line near Los Angeles International Airport. As of December 2024, the project is in the environmental review phase of planning and construction is expected to be funded via a combination of local Measure M revenue and applications to federal grants. Pending these two requirements, the first phase is projected to open in 2033-2035.
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Westchester/Veterans station is an at-grade light rail station on the K Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located alongside Florence Avenue near its intersection of Hindry Avenue, located in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles, but across the street from the city of Inglewood. The station serves as the temporary southern terminus of the K line until through-routing with the C Line commences.
Aviation/Century station is an elevated light rail station on the C and K lines of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located alongside Aviation Boulevard above its intersection with Century Boulevard, located in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Innovia APM is a rubber-tired automated people mover system (APM) currently manufactured and marketed by Alstom as part of its Innovia series of fully automated transportation systems. The technology was introduced in 1963 by Westinghouse and has been improved over three generations: the Innovia APM 100, Innovia APM 200, and the latest model, the Innovia APM 300. The license to use the technology has also passed hands several times, from Westinghouse to AEG in 1988, to Adtranz in 1996, to Bombardier Transportation in 2001, and most recently to Alstom in 2021.
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The Inglewood Transit Connector Project was a proposed 1.6-mile (2.6 km) fully elevated, automated people mover system in Inglewood, California, that would have connected the Downtown Inglewood station on the K Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system to the major sports and entertainment venues in the city: Kia Forum, SoFi Stadium, Hollywood Park Casino, and Intuit Dome. The project was planned to break ground in 2024 and begin operations in late 2027, ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics that will use some of the venues. However, after funding rejections, the line is not likely to be built.
The LAX Automated People Mover is an under construction automated people mover (APM) system that will serve the area around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The LAX City Bus Center is the main bus station serving the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California. The LAX City Bus Center, is located about a one-half mile (0.80 km) from the Central Terminal Area on 96th Street, east of Sepulveda Boulevard.
Media related to LAX/Metro Transit Center station at Wikimedia Commons