LOS ANGELES.- On an average afternoon at the airport Los Angeles, TJ Jameswhich arrived from Australia With his family, he looks lost at the sea of vehicles honking, paralyzed, suitcases in hand, not knowing how to get out of there.
After 18 hours of travel, the contractor gets a taste of the chaos that awaits the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the Californian megacity during the World Cup 2026which takes place from June 11 to July 19 in North America.
“There are no signs that really explain where I have to go,” said James, who is visiting Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
“I did my research and I’m still struggling,” he added.
James, a 47-year-old American who has visited Los Angeles before, feels sorry for the foreign tourists. “I’m lost… this is really frustrating,” he said.
The bad reputation of Los Angeles Airportthe main air terminal in the birthplace of hollywood, It is legendary.
Last year Netflix He compared it to “a torture chamber” in an advertisement for “Merlina,” his spin-off series from “The Adams Family.”
About 95,000 vehicles circulate in front of the airport a day, most of which get stuck on a horseshoe-shaped road that borders all the terminals and ends up reproducing a funnel for tens of thousands of passengers who want to be picked up or dropped off as close as possible.
“Puzzle”
To alleviate traffic, taxis and transportation services have to pick up their passengers at a terminal outside this circuit.
And to reach this terminal, travelers have to take a bus. But there are several free bus lines that run in front of the airport, all with different destinations and stops.
The only difference is the color: green for the taxi terminal, purple for the car rental service, red for the hotels and pink for other terminals.
It’s up to travelers to figure out what their bus is and where it stops.
Because of this “puzzle,” LAX, as locals call it, “is an airport that people in Los Angeles love to hate,” he said. Joshua Schankacademic of University of California Transportation Institute.
The 2026 World Cup was an opportunity for the megalopolis to improve its image, two years before receiving the Olympics.
A skytrain that would connect LAX to the subway was due to enter service before the tournament, but the $3.5 billion project, initially scheduled for 2023, is delayed amid disputes with the construction company.
The trains are running without passengers on a trial period, but the service does not have an opening date.
LAX declined to speak to AFP.
Schank opined that the project “did not receive the attention it really deserved from elected officials in terms of urgency.”
“Hell”
The expert maintained that Los Angeles, which with its huge highways was designed based on private vehicles, has a harder time improving its public transportation network quickly compared to other American cities.
With only six lines, the metro does not cover the extent of this megacity that is home to ten million people.
During the 2026 World Cup, Los Angeles will allocate 300 buses to take fans from various parts of the city to the SoFi Stadiumin inglewoodneighbor to the airport.
At $1.75, this is a small victory for viewers, who in New York They must pay $105 for a round-trip train ticket to MetLife Stadiumin the neighbor East Rutherford.
Schank stressed that once the skytrain connecting the airport to the metro system begins operating, bus lines should be added to increase the number of destinations, which would encourage use of the network.
Another suggestion to put an end to traffic jams at the airport is to impose a tax on private vehicles that pick up or carry travelers.
“Politicians have to act if they want the Olympic Games to be a success,” he commented.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Henrietta Henry He has some advice for the fans who will arrive for the Soccer World Cup.
“Get ready,” Henry said with several visits to Los Angeles in tow. “The first time was really hell for me.”
