The Other Missing Transit Link to LAX

Metrolink, the Los Angeles region's commuter train service, does not currently connect Orange County and the Inland Empire to Los Angeles International Airport, but that may be about to change. 

"Commuters on Metrolink, Metro’s heavy-rail cousin, come from Riverside and Orange County to the busy Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink Station on Imperial Highway," according to Steve Scauzillo, reporting for in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. The Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink Station is located 2.8 miles away from the eastern terminus of the Metro Green Line, also in Norwalk, which is the line that passes closest to LAX.

To connect these two stations on separate rail systems, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is holding public meetings to consider an aerial train, underground subway, or dedicated busway. "One could call SCAG’s project the Rail-to-LAX II," writes Scauzillo. The existing Metro Green Line and the under-construction Crenshaw Light Rail Line will also eventually gain a connection to LAX in the form of a people mover that connects the airport to the Airport Metro Connector 96th Street Transit Station.