I’m unfortunately flying a lot this summer — which is why I’m “buying carbon offsets” and writing about packing light. Later this month, I’ll write about greening flights as much as possible — but this post’s about greening pre-flight!
Besides eco-issues, getting to the airport in a car can be annoying for other reasons. Driving your own car and parking at the airport for a weekend can get expensive — and trying to arrange a friend drive you can be a hassle, especially if your flight takes off really early, really late, or during business hours. Luckily, L.A.’s got a lot of great green travel options:
Public transportation: Bus or rail’s usually the cheapest option for getting to the airport. If I take my local Big Blue Bus, I can get to the airport for just 75 cents! Compare that to about $40 via taxi.
The downside to this method’s that many towns don’t have robust public transportation systems — especially early in the morning or late at night — so in some places, going by public transportation can take significantly longer. In addition, if you’re taking a longer trip with more luggage, the travel process can be cumbersome — especially if you have to make multiple transfers.
On the other hand, if you don’t have much luggage and are close to a direct bus or rail line to the airport, travel by public transportation can actually be a lot less stressful than driving. Especially lucky are those close to rail lines; you’ll avoid rush hour traffic jams entirely! Ryanne of Ryan is Hungry took Metro from LAX to downtown L.A. — and made it across town in just an hour for $1.25. [Update: I think Ryanne should've actually paid $2.50. See comments]
Shuttles: The Flyaway shuttle moves people between 3 spots around town to the airport for $5 – $7 a trip — which is convenient if you live close to one of those 3 spots. A couple more expensive shuttles like Primetime will pick you up and drop you off at your residence — but cost about $20 a trip.
Usually, I’ll take the Flyaway to get to the airport if I’m flying during normal daylight hours. But because I have to take the BBB 2 or Metro 720 to get to the Flyaway, I’ll opt for Primetime if I need to get to the airport rather early or late in the day.
Eco-friendly taxis and cars: L.A. has a couple eco-friendly cab companies — Taxi Taxi and Eurotaxi — that use hybrid, CNG, or biodiesel taxis. I’m hoping we’ll also get PlanetTran, an eco-friendly transportation service to the airport with a mostly-Prius fleet equipped with wifi — but that service is only in the San Francisco Bay and New England areas right now (via The Green Girls).
However, eco-friendly taxis and cars aren’t necessarily greener than, say, driving your own Prius to the airport — so group travel’s generally the greener way to go.
How do you usually get to the airport?
Earlier: A 5-step program for the public transit-phobic
We generally take BBB3, although it is a bit of a walk to the nearest stop (a bit over half a mile). We sometimes do a cab home, which makes it difficult to take one of the eco-cab companies.
Don Hosek’s last blog post..The Streets of Santa Monica (in Alphabetical Order) Bryn Mawr Avenue and California Avenue
Comment by Don Hosek — June 8, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Yeah — I’d take the BBB3 more too if it wasn’t so far — I think it’s more like 3/4 of a mile for me. With luggage, it’s a lil too much to walk….
Comment by Siel — June 8, 2009 @ 6:33 pm
Just curious, which Metro bus goes from LAX to downtown? The green line to the blue line is $2.50 total one-way (not $1.25). I have taken the 438 Commuter Express ($1.75) which stops at the Aviation station, but I was not aware of a single Metro line with no transfer.
Comment by Jonathan — June 9, 2009 @ 8:11 am
Metro #439 goes from LAX bus center to downtown direct via the 10 freeway.
Comment by Chris — June 9, 2009 @ 8:53 am
The flyaway is great for going to the airport, but it can be somewhat less predictable from LAX. I had to wait for more than an hour to get back to westwood once!
Comment by Justin Chen — June 9, 2009 @ 9:25 am
I am fairly certain that both Taxi! Taxi! and EuroTaxi can only pick you up if you are inside the Santa Monica City Limits. If you are not in S.M. they are by law, not allowed to offer you a ride. They can of course take you anywhere you want to go, including LAX, but they will not be able to pick you up at LAX.
Another airport to consider for some is Burbank-Bob Hope (BUR) which is across the street from a train station served by both the Metrolink Ventura Line and any Amtrak Surfliners travelling from L.A. to Santa Barbara/Goleta.
http://www.burbankairport.com/location/documents/Maphilighttrainsta10-2006wide.pdf
Comment by Erik — June 9, 2009 @ 11:11 am
LAX to Downtown (no transfer other than LAX Shuttle) by Metro:
Metro 439 – Lot C Bus Depot to Downtown via 10, although watchout, I believe it won’t be doing the full trip to downtown at all times of day in the next schedule change. Also you pay a 1 zone express charge
Metro 42/42A – via downroads. This is the cheapest option ($1.25 each way).
All other options require transfers.
Comment by Matthew — June 9, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
I just read that the Flyaway bus from Van Nuys and Union Station will go up in price to $7 each way as of July 1. If this continues without gas prices continuing to rise, they are going to lose a huge number of customers. This means the price from these locations has almost doubled since Jan 1 of this year.
http://cbs2.com/local/FlyAway.Buses.LAX.2.1039795.html
Comment by M — June 11, 2009 @ 9:01 am
Jonathan — V. good point — I should’ve caught that discrepancy. I think Ryanne didn’t realize she needed to pay another $1.25 after the transfer from the green to blue line — good thing she didn’t get caught by the ticket checkers! I put an update in the post noting that :)
Justin — Haven’t had a problem with the Flyaway yet — knock on wood! They’ve always been on time for me; the issue is that I have to take the bus to get to the Flyaway in Westwood, and when traffic’s bad on Wilshire, I’m late for the Flyaway :(
Erik — Thanks for the deets on the Burbank options — I never use that airport, and so often forget about it. Zach at LAist wrote a post about how easy it is to take the bus to Burbank airport a couple years ago.
Thanks both Matthew and Chris for the deets on the Metro bus routes :) These do seem to be less predictable b/c they depend on current traffic issues (vs. the rail lines, which don’t)…. Has anyone tried both rail and bus options to downtown and have a preference?
M — Thanks for the note. I’ve updated the Flyaway info in the post with the new fee –
Comment by Siel — June 11, 2009 @ 4:42 pm