Once the construction of the Automated People Mover at Los Angeles International International Airport is complete, travelers will now have the option of avoiding the dreaded traffic loop of the airport that has recently rose to become the punchline of several jokes. The LAX Automated People Mover (APM) will run 2.25 miles (3.62 km) along a line of six stations, with parallel tracks forming a pinched loop. The APM will serve three stations in the central terminal area (CTA) each with footbridges with moving walkways to nearby terminals.
Unfortunately, it recently only contributed to the chaos. Its completion date has been pushed back, another delay in the USD$30 billion overhaul of the fifth busiest airport globally.
According to Fitch Ratings, this project was originally planned for the year 2023 and was expected to come to an end in the year 2024 but may not be completed until late 2025.
LAX’s People Mover Completion Date
On Thursday, Fitch provided the LAX’s People Mover Completion Date at October 30, 2025 for the project. In the month of January, this credit institution had projected a completion date of April 2025 and stated that “ quite a number of disagreements and disputes among the parties involved” and the unresolved negotiations over timeline, production and also compensation claims resulted to the downgrade of the bond rating of the project from BBB- to BB+. The BB+ rating of the project was confirmed during this week.
The project currently stands at 96% completion status, but due to the ongoing issues, they could prolong its completion. The contractor of the airport LAX Integrated Express Solutions (LINXS) which consists of a number of groups, reached an agreement on a “global settlement that got to resolve the delay claims” during last April.
Cost of the Project
This $2 billion project which commenced in the year 2019, is a part of the big efforts to rehabilitate the busy LAX ahead of the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. This 2.25- mile elevated train is expected to transport people to and from the airport terminals, parking areas, rental car spots, and even the Metro Connector, same as other major airports in the United States.
Capacity of the Project
Each 4-car train carries up to 200 passengers. With a headway of 2 minutes during peak hours, up to 30 trains per hour enter LAX through CTA East, carrying up to 6,000 passengers per hour. With 14 peak hours per day, up to 84,000 passengers could enter daily during peak hours. If off-peak trains also carry up to 200 passengers and run 16 trains per hour instead of 30, up to 3,200 off-peak passengers per hour could enter. With 10 off-peak hours per day that is up to 32,000 daily off-peak passengers. Combining peak and off-peak passengers gives up to 116,000 daily entering passengers, or 42.34 million entering passengers per year. The opposite direction capacity is the same, giving a capacity to move 85 million passengers per year.
According to the experts in the railway transport sector, the People Mover is expected to benefit Los Angeles by bringing improvement to the traffic flow at the airport area, thereby improving its competitiveness as a destination for both travelers and airlines.
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