josephstern

Plus you wouldn't have to suffer on an Avis bus that farts and sneezes its way around the terminal due to some design problem with the air brakes. That has to be the worst noise pollution out there.

farebucket

Thanks for the tip. I will note on this night the first problem was Airport Blvd. was doubling as a parking lot. I was considering driving on the sidewalk to get to the car return driveway. I was the only person on the bus, and the driver did take the lower level cut thru to Terminal 7 as part of the hour adventure.

chrisl137

If in the future you end up on a bus with a lot of people when traffic is bad (it can still be 40 minutes through the U from T1 to T7), you can save a lot of time by getting off at T1 and walking across to T7. It used to be possible to do this on the upper level/deck 2, and also through the parking lots, but due to construction and frequent access changes, you pretty much have to do it via the sidewalks now. The most reliable route now is just to take the sidewalk on East Way across. There are lights, stop signs, and flaggers with stop signs to make it easy to get across.

mpeterson78

I am catching a flight from T6 on a Wednesday at 8 am. I'll be coming from downtown, and debating between an uber direct from my hotel or making my way over to Union Station for the Fly Away bus. Will traffic be bad at around 6:30 am on a Wednesday going from downtown to the airport? Is it worth the extra transfer to use the Fly Away bus since it can access the terminals using the inner roadway? Or is it basically a wash? Thanks!

bzcat

Depends on where you are in Downtown. The issue here is that Union Station is actually not in Downtown... more like just north of Downtown, on the other side of US-101. At that hour (~7AM), it is near the peak domestic departure time from LAX so the departure level of LAX will be fairly busy so probably take about 20~30 min from exiting the freeway to T6.

If you are anyway near I-10 or 110 freeway on ramp in Downtown LA, it will probably be faster to Uber. If you are within 1 or 2 minute walking distance to Metro station, particularly on the northside of Downtown in general, it will probably be a little faster to take FlyAway, assuming you can line up on the departure time of the FlyAway bus.

FlyAway will take a long slog from Union Station to the 110 freeway but once on the freeway, it will use the Fastrak toll lane on I-110 and HOV lane on I-105, as well as being able to navigate inside LAX in transit lane. But FlyAway will stop at all the terminals whereas you Uber will go straight to T6.

Traffic will be thick during morning commute hours. If you can, leave 30 min earlier than whatever time you originally planned no matter which method you use.

mpeterson78

Thanks! I'm staying at the Conrad and would take the light rail to Union Station and then hop on FlyAway. I take it an uber with 2 passengers can not use the HOV lanes? Is it HOV 3+?

TWA884

The Metro ExpressLanes on the Harbor Freeway, I-110, are different than most HOV lanes elsewhere in Southern California. Vehicles with two or more occupants are permitted to use those lanes at all hours of the day, however, a FasTrak Flex transponder is required.

Kacee

I do hope you left earlier than 6:30 am for an 8 am flight.

chrisl137

And you left off the punch line - there are still Uber and Lyft drivers who don’t have transponders. It boggles the mind.

mpeterson78

I left at 6, had no trouble with the Uber. The driver had a transponder and we used the HOV lanes.