LOS ANGELES – After long lines surrounded a new change for rideshare pickups at the Los Angeles International Airport, the program is being expanded.

The program deemed LAX-it was implemented one week ago, moving all rideshare pickups to a separate parking lot that has to be accessed by taking a shuttle. The shuttle takes travelers away from the terminals, where rideshare pickups have been banned.

The shuttle takes about 7 to 15 minutes to get to the lot depending on the terminal it is departing from.

RELATED l Rideshare Pickup Ending at LAX Terminal

After a bumpy first week, the parking lot for pick-ups is being expanded with three new lanes, which airport officials say was a pre-planned contingency to alleviate congestion. 

As of Wednesday morning, the old Park and Fly lot on Century was converted to “Lyft Only” lanes, creating a 50 percent increase in space for the ride share pick up lot.

The airport has also split up the entrance between Uber and Lyft, in the hope of alleviating the bottlenecking that was taking place.

On Wednesday afternoon, Troy Skinner and Erin McIntyre, both frequent flyers to LAX, had to use the new LAXit system for the first time. Their experience started off much like that of many others—with confusion. 

“We have no idea what to expect, we’re hoping that it’s at least as it used to be,” said Skinner.

Then a big decision had to be made. Take the shuttle or take a walk. 

“I think we’re going to walk it,” said Skinner.

Flying into Terminal 1 helped because they were very close to the car pick up lot.

But once they arrived there, more questions and more confusion. 

They had to request their ride, then figure out where to go. 

“It gives us 2A, 3A and 4A. There’s clearly so many other zones, I don’t really get that,” said McIntyre.

“It looks like they are filtering every single terminal to one spot, which seems like a disaster,” said Skinner. 

The reasoning behind the move, according to LAX officials, is due to construction occurring over the next three years. The construction is already causing backups at the airport and it is only expected to get worse. LAX says removing the amount of cars in the airport will help reduce traffic over time.

 

 

The frustration felt by passengers like McIntyre and Skinner prompted airport officials to make crucial changes to the system just one week in. 

Skinner and McIntyre say the system is far from perfect, but understand that it’s a work in progress.

“I guess it’s just like anything else, growing pains. Maybe eventually [they] figure it out and it gets streamlined," McIntyre said. 

They also took the time to bond with others in line while they waited, which was only about 15 minutes all together 

“Yeah it’s a little camaraderie going on here in this chaos,” said Skinner.  

They showed their code to the driver, hopped in the car, and zoomed off.

The changes will not impact personal pickups which can still meet travelers at the terminals.