Multimodal Transit Hub Planned for LAX

Details about the Metro rail station planned at LAX have been released in a draft Environmental Impact Report.

The Aviation/96th Street Station would serve Metro's Crenshaw/LAX line (still under construction) and an extension of the Green Line. Urbanize LA reports that plans also call for 20 active bus bays and a pick-up/drop-off area, as well as a bike hub that would include long- and short-term parking, showers, and a repair facility.

The station would be about a mile from the airport. Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is planning an automated people mover that would connect it to the central terminals.

Both the Green Line extension and the light rail link are part of Metro's proposed long-range expenditure plan, which relies on the success of a sales-tax measure that will appear on the ballot in November. If it passes, the station could be complete by 2021.

As Urbanize LA points out, a rail connection to the airport has been on the county's wishlist for many years. (It was recently the subject of a friendly diss in the haiku battle between LA Metro and SF BART). Last year, LAWA hired executive director Deborah Flint away from Oakland Airport, where she oversaw the delivery of the BART Oakland Airport Connector.