Video of the Day: Your East Side Moment of Zen
The Big Pink @ El Rey Theatre 11/18/09
If You've Got the Time: Sunday Brunch @ Casa del Mar
The Great L.A. Walk Treks Adams & Washington Today
They Might Be Giants @ Royce Hall 11/14/09
One of L.A.'s best traffic-beating ideas will soon hit Orange County. A non-stop FlyAway bus between the Irvine Station and Los Angeles International Airport was approved today by the city's Airport Commission. The three-year license agreement between Irvine and LAX means the fourth FlyAway route could start soon.
The Irvine Station is the busiest transit station in Orange County as well as the 14th busiest Amtrak station nationwide. The city will invest nearly $7,000 in start-up improvements and will also dedicate 500 free parking spaces to FlyAway passengers.
Commissioners recommend a $25 fare for the one-way 50-mile trip. Each parent would be able to take up to two children grades eight and under for free.
The FlyAway service began in 1975 at Van Nuys ($7 one-way), with service added at Union Station ($7 one-way) in 2006 and Westwood ($5 one-way) in 2007. By 2015, nine FlyAway routes are expected to be in operation, per a mitigation requirement approved by the city of Los Angeles and the Federal Aviation Administration.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Hey Zach... is there any talk of Metro extending train hours for the Holiday season travelers?
The last we heard of this was in February, always keeping my eyes peeled for more:
- http://laist.com/2009/02/05/late-night_subway_service_in_2009.php
- http://laist.com/2009/02/13/late-night_subway_service_was_a_gre.php
$50!!!
Irvine seems a little too far south for this, I think Fullerton would be a better location for the flyaway!
Yeah, it will be interesting to see the ridership for this. I personally have no idea, never having the need to commute from Irvine to LAX.
Irvine is a straight shot along the 405 to LAX. Fullerton would require taking several freeways, not to mention passing through the dreaded "Orange Crush."
Actually, the 405 is much more congested than the route from Fullerton could be if taking the 91-605-105, and Fullerton is actually north of the Orange Crush so there would be no need to drive through it.
I've used the service from Union Station to the airport and won't be hijacked by SuperShuttle or the other guys again. Yes, you have to get to the pickup place (friends, cabs, etc) but after that, it's easy. No crawling over other people, having to wait for another passenger (if you're the first pickup) and not always good drivers. And let me mention: the last shuttle I took from the airport had the van completely full and it made the route to South Pas area a very roundabout one...with added time for re-arranging the luggage at each stop . All that an a 15% tip is expected...
From Irvine? I don't know--but I do know I prefer it to all the existing options from LA (near downtown).
Next time I might take the Gold Line...if I'm not travelling during commute hours.
IF--I could take light rail (Gold Line, etc) to the airport without having to transfer several times (currently it would be GL to RL to BL to GL to bus to airport) I might consider it but again, not during the main commute times.
The Flyaway is def one of MTA's great ideas. Also the Union Station stop is at Patsaouras Plaza. Which is a stop or terminius point for many regular MTA buses.
Pleeeeeease add a full sized bus to the Westwood route first! It has been standing room only on the Westwood Flyaway the past few times....not much fun when cruising down the 405.
They used to run full-sized buses when I took the FlyAway from Westwood long ago and they were never near capacity.
I thought it was a good idea to switch to smaller buses when they started to offer free wifi. Glad to see the service is doing great. =]