LAX has no train at the terminals yet, so every way into Los Angeles starts with a shuttle, a bus or a car. Ride-hail suits the beaches, the FlyAway bus is the simplest way downtown, and the Metro is the cheapest and the only one traffic can't slow.
What's the best way from LAX into the city?
It depends where you're going. For Santa Monica or the beaches, take the free shuttle to LAX-it and a ride-hail, about 30 minutes outside rush hour. For downtown, the FlyAway bus leaves the kerb outside your terminal for Union Station every 30 minutes: US$12.75, 30 to 60 minutes. The Metro costs US$1.75 but takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, with a shuttle and a change. Allow about 90 minutes from landing to the kerb.
Getting through the border
Before any ride, you clear US border control and customs. At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), plan on about 90 minutes from landing to standing at the kerb with your bags.
- Passport control. In October 2026 it took 18 minutes on average at the Tom Bradley International Terminal, where most international flights arrive, and 24 for non-US passports. About 1 traveller in 17 waited more than 45 minutes, most often after early-afternoon landings. Mobile Passport Control, CBP’s free app, may be open to you; check the app before you land.
- Bags and customs. Then you collect your checked bags and take them through customs. No time is published for either, so our 90 minutes allows about 25 for the belt.
- On one ticket, hand your bags back at the airline’s drop-off past customs and walk out. On separate tickets they stay with you, and LAX has no lockers.
- A slow queue eats into your time in town, not your flight: the time you must leave town stays the same.
- Landing on a US domestic flight? There’s no border for you: allow about 45 minutes to an hour to the kerb (our estimate).
Who needs which document: visa and transit rules.
The options at a glance
| Ride-hail or taxi | FlyAway bus | Metro trains | Big Blue Bus Route 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To | Anywhere; best for the beaches | Union Station, downtown | Downtown, Hollywood, Santa Monica | Downtown Santa Monica |
| From | LAX-it, by free shuttle | The kerb outside your terminal | LAX/Metro Transit Center, by free shuttle | LAX/Metro Transit Center, by free shuttle |
| Time | About 30 minutes to Santa Monica, outside rush hour | 30 to 60 minutes | About 1 hour 15 minutes from the kerb to downtown | 35 to 56 minutes, plus the shuttle |
| Single fare | In the app; no set taxi fare | US$12.75 | US$1.75 | US$1.25 |
| Pay with | The app, or card in a taxi | Contactless card or phone wallet; no cash | Contactless card, phone or TAP card | Contactless card or TAP card |
Road times are our estimates, for outside the weekday rush; nothing official is published. The bus and train times are their operators’.
SkyLink, LAX’s new airport train, isn’t open yet and has no opening date. When it opens, it will replace the shuttle to the Metro; until then, follow the signs for shuttles.
Metro: cheapest, and safe from traffic
The Metro is the slowest way downtown but the only one that runs to a timetable whatever the traffic does. It suits a long layover, a rush-hour return, or a trip to Hollywood.
- The shuttle first. On the lower (arrivals) level, wait at the pink LAX Shuttle signs for the Metro Connector. At the Tom Bradley International Terminal, building work has moved that stop a short walk along the kerb to Terminal 3. The free shuttle runs from 4am to 1am, about every 10 minutes, to the LAX/Metro Transit Center, which takes 10 to 20 minutes with the wait (our estimate).
- K Line, then E Line. Take the K Line north, towards Expo/Crenshaw, 21 minutes. At Expo/Crenshaw, change to the E Line east for downtown: 18 minutes to 7th St/Metro Center, with Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill and Historic Broadway a stop or two further. For Santa Monica, take the E Line west instead, 47 minutes from downtown to Downtown Santa Monica. Allow about 1 hour 15 minutes from the kerb to downtown.
- Hollywood. Stay on the E Line to 7th St/Metro Center and change to the B Line: 17 minutes to Hollywood/Highland, on the Walk of Fame.
- Paying. US$1.75 a ride, and changes are free for two hours when you tap. Tap a contactless bank card or phone at the gate or on the platform reader; each traveller needs their own. The ride back is a second fare.
- Frequency. By day a K train comes about every 13 minutes and an E train about every 10; late in the evening, both run every 20.
| Monday to Friday | Saturday, Sunday and holidays | |
|---|---|---|
| First K Line train you can make from the airport | 4:26am | 4:30am |
| Last train back from 7th St/Metro Center | 11:38pm | 11:38pm |
The K Line’s first trains leave the Transit Center at 4:01am on weekdays and 4:08am at weekends, but the shuttle only starts at 4am, so the first you can count on is the next one. These are Metro’s timetable times, valid for November 2026.
Last trains back from the other stations a plan uses, every day of the week:
| Station | Last train that gets you back |
|---|---|
| Historic Broadway (Grand Central Market) | 11:35pm |
| Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill (The Broad) | 11:36pm |
| Downtown Santa Monica | 11:36pm |
| Hollywood/Highland | About 11:10pm |
Each connects at Expo/Crenshaw with the last K Line train, which reaches the Transit Center at 12:32am; the shuttle to the terminals runs until 1am. A train after these still runs, but it reaches Expo/Crenshaw after the last K Line has gone. Late-evening B Line trains run every 20 minutes and can run a few minutes late, so don’t leave Hollywood any later than about 11:10pm. Few layovers need any of this: these trains matter only for a flight after about 3am. If you miss them, take a taxi or ride-hail back, about an hour (our estimate).
FlyAway: the simplest way downtown
The FlyAway is a bus from the airport kerb straight to Union Station, downtown’s rail hub, with no shuttle and no change.
- Where. On the lower (arrivals) level, outside every terminal, at the blue FlyAway columns.
- When. From LAX at 5:40am, then every 30 minutes, at 10 and 40 minutes past the hour, until 11:40pm, and three more after midnight. Back from Union Station’s Patsaouras Plaza, Bus Stop 1, every 30 minutes until 11:30pm. It runs every day of the year.
- Time. 30 to 60 minutes each way, by LAX’s own estimate: it’s a bus on the freeway, so allow the full hour at rush hour.
- Fare. US$12.75 one way. Buy in the FlyAway app or online, or tap a contactless Visa or Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay as you board; there’s no cash. Two children under 5 ride free with each adult.
- Boarding. No reservations: be at the stop 10 minutes early, as boarding closes 2 minutes before departure.
- Bags. Up to three stored bags and one carry-on each, which makes it the best choice with luggage.
Union Station is across the road from Olvera Street, and the Metro’s B and D lines run from it to the rest of downtown and Hollywood.
Big Blue Bus Route 3 to Santa Monica
Santa Monica’s city bus runs from the LAX/Metro Transit Center to Downtown Santa Monica, a short walk from the pier, for US$1.25.
- Getting on. Take the free Metro Connector shuttle to the Transit Center (see the Metro, above) and board at Bays 4 and 5. Get off at Arizona and 5th; the pier is about 10 minutes’ walk (our estimate).
- When. From the Transit Center from 4:45am on weekdays and 5:30am at weekends, until 11:10pm. Back from Arizona and 5th until 11pm every day. Buses come every 10 to 15 minutes on weekdays and every 15 at weekends.
- Paying. Tap a contactless card or a TAP card. Each traveller needs their own.
- Time. The bus is stuck in the same traffic as a car, and its own timetable shows how much it varies:
| Weekday departure | To Santa Monica | Back to the Transit Center |
|---|---|---|
| Before 5am | 35 minutes | 35 minutes |
| 7am to 8:30am | About 56 minutes | About 50 minutes |
| 5pm to 5:30pm | About 52 minutes | 68 minutes |
| 6pm to 7:10pm | About 47 minutes | 58 minutes |
| 8pm | About 42 minutes | 45 minutes |
| 11pm | 40 minutes | 40 minutes |
Add the shuttle back to your terminal. So on a weekday, leave Santa Monica about 3 hours 10 minutes before your flight, and 15 minutes earlier between 4:30pm and 6:30pm. On a public holiday, check Big Blue Bus’s website before you rely on the bus.
Taxis and ride-hailing
Taxis, Uber and Lyft pick up at LAX-it, a lot next to Terminal 1, not at the terminals.
- Getting there. Free LAX-it shuttles stop outside baggage claim at every terminal, at the green LAX-it signs, around the clock. You can also walk, following the large LAX-it signs: about 8 minutes from Terminal 1.
- Calling the ride. Once you have your bags, open the app and follow its instructions; most let you request the ride while you head to LAX-it.
- A few exceptions. Some taxis also wait inside Parking Structure 3, between the Tom Bradley International Terminal and Terminal 3, and at the far end of Terminal 7. Uber Black, Uber XL, Lyft Lux and Lyft Black meet you at the terminal kerb.
- Fares. No official taxi fare to the city is published, and ride-hail prices change with demand, so check the app.
- Times. Outside rush hour, allow about 10 to 15 minutes to Dockweiler Beach, 15 to 25 to Manhattan Beach, 20 to 30 to Santa Monica or Venice, and 30 to 45 to downtown or Hollywood. These are our estimates. Between about 4pm and 7pm on weekdays, the drive back to LAX from Santa Monica can take an hour or more.
- Coming back. Drivers drop off at the terminals’ upper (departures) level. Tell them your terminal.
A car beats the bus and the train for the beaches on any layover, and for anywhere after the last train.
Private transfers
A pre-booked transfer meets you outside arrivals with a fixed fare, so you skip the LAX-it shuttle. It costs more than a ride-hail but suits a family with luggage or a landing late at night, when you’d rather not wait at LAX-it.
Storing bags
LAX has no lockers and no left-luggage office. With a cabin bag, take it with you: the FlyAway takes three stored bags each, and the beaches and piers need nothing more. With a large case, store it near where you’re going. In November 2026 Bounce listed shops and hotels holding bags in Santa Monica, Venice, Hollywood and downtown from about US$4.25 a day; it has none inside the terminals.
Moving between terminals
After security, every terminal is joined by walkways, so a connection to another terminal doesn’t mean being screened twice. From Terminal 1 to Terminal 8 is about 2 miles, roughly 40 minutes on foot (our estimate). Before security, walk along the kerb or take the free Airline Connections “A” shuttle, which runs around the clock from the pink LAX Shuttle signs on the lower (arrivals) level. On the way back from town, go straight to the terminal on your boarding pass and through security there.
Timing your return
Be back at LAX 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass. With your bags already back with the airline, that’s time for security and the walk to your gate, since the US has no passport check on the way out. If you still need to check in or drop a bag, come back sooner: the airlines’ check-in closes 60 minutes before an international departure. LAX is busiest from 11am to 2pm and from 8pm to 11pm.
In practice, leave Santa Monica by ride-hail about 2 hours 25 minutes before your flight, Union Station on the FlyAway about 3 hours 10 minutes before, and Historic Broadway on the Metro about 3 hours 15 minutes before. On a weekday between 4pm and 7pm, leave the beaches 30 minutes earlier.
| Layover | Time in town |
|---|---|
| 5.5 hours | About 1.5 hours, at Dockweiler Beach by ride-hail |
| 6 hours | About 2 hours, at Dockweiler Beach |
| 8 hours | About 3 hours, in Santa Monica by ride-hail |
| 10 hours | About 5 hours, in Santa Monica |
| 12 hours | About 7 hours, in Santa Monica |
These assume about 90 minutes from landing to the kerb, 35 minutes to Dockweiler or 55 to Santa Monica with the LAX-it shuttle, the same or a little less back, and 90 minutes at the airport. Downtown by FlyAway or Metro leaves about 1.5 hours less than Santa Monica, and Hollywood by Metro about 2 hours less: the itineraries give each plan’s time.