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ChineseJohn Wayne Airport for the Car-Free
Image courtesy of jon_hrach.
The transit oriented lifestyle in Los Angeles is often like a jigsaw puzzle, you’ve got all these oddly shaped pieces and you just have to figure out how to connect them. It may seem daunting at first, but it’s never impossible, and with a little work the full picture is bound to appear.
On of my favorite transit puzzles is getting to the airport without a car. Thanks to the FlyAway getting to LAX is like a 300-piece puzzle - even a child could do it. However, LAX is but one of many airports in the region and sometimes you’re just bound to fly out of one of those other aviation hubs. The last time I put together one of these 1000-piece puzzles was when I flew out of Ontario Airport to take advantage of a non-stop ExpressJet flight to Oklahoma City (full disclosure: I’ve actually made this trip a few times since then). A Metrolink and a taxi saved me about $100 and got me a non-stop flight to the mid-west. Not a bad picture for the work it took putting that puzzle together.
Last week I opened up a new 1000-piecer: Downtown Los Angeles to John Wayne Airport (Orange County). The price was right, the time was right, the flight was right, so I bought the ticket/puzzle. As the pieces tumbled out in front of me, I wondered if I made the right decision. Maybe this was one of those puzzles with no solution? Or maybe a few pieces would be missing? Shit. I wish I had a car.
Just kidding.
I knew Metrolink went to Orange County, and a little research revealed that it got relatively close to the John Wayne Airport. The Tustin Station (serving both the Orange County Line and the Inland Empire-Orange County Line) is about six miles from the terminals at John Wayne. Six miles. Too far too walk, can’t bring a bike on the plane, unlikely to be any bus service… will I have to take a taxi again like I did for Ontario?
Wait. Rewind. I think I missed a piece.
Unlikely to be any bus service… unlikely doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It turns out OCTA runs something called Station Link, a bus service that links Metrolink stations to destinations in the OC. The Station Link buses show up only when trains arrive, thus they are pretty much guaranteed to be there, and since they are only there to pick up the arriving Metrolink riders, they they are impossible to miss. And Station Link 470[PDF] just happens to go from the Tustin Metrolink station to where else but the John Wayne Airport! With that, I coordinated the train time tables with my flight schedule so that I would arrive at least an hour before the flight, and I was good to go. The puzzle pieces were set, now it was just time to push them into place.
I woke up bright and early on Monday morning and headed to the 7th Street Metro Center Red Line station. After fumbling to put my credit card in the right way at the ticket vending machine, I hopped on the Red Line train towards Union Station. As I rode up the escalators at Union Station towards the Metrolink platforms I took note of the flashy new LCD screens that told me I was headed towards trains to North Hollywood and Wilshire Western although I was actually heading away from those trains. I had a much easier time using my credit card at the Metrolink ticket vending machine, perhaps the morning crustiness was wearing off, or perhaps they are the designed better. I boarded Metrolink Train 682 and prepared for the prompt 6:45am departure.
A little less than an hour later, after passing miles of industrial warehouses and suburban sprawl, I arrived at the Tustin Station. Apprehensive as to whether or not a bus would actually be there, I was relieve when I saw a single bus with the numbers 470 on the headsign waiting at the curb. Fourteen of us transferred (for free!) from the Metrolink to the Station Link and the next leg of my journey began. The 470 takes a meandering journey through the suburban office parks and apartment complexes of Irvine and Santa Ana. The roads are wide, the landscaping pristine, and the office parks stand like anti-pedestrian fortresses, attractive but sterile and oriented solely for those with four wheels. The 470 then circles around University of California Irvine, which looks like a pretty cool place to study and where the last of the passengers got off, before making it’s way down Campus Drive for the final stretch to John Wayne Airport.
Fourty minutes after I had left the Metrolink, I arrived at the John Wayne Terminal. This lone psycho from Los Angeles, who had spent an hour and fourty minutes to get to this distant airport on mass transit, had finally made it. Check-in and security was a breeze, and soon enough I was airborne.
The Results:
- Total time to airport: almost 2 hours.
- Total cost: $9.50
- Would I do it again: hell yes!
If I Drove:
- Trip time: According to Google Maps, 45 minutes without traffic, and up to 2 hours with traffic.
- Cost: If I use the IRS guideline of 48.5 cents per mile, then the 40 mile trip would cost $19.40. That doesn’t include the cost of parking at the airport.
- Would I ever drive: hell no!
Discussion
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How did your flight end up being cheaper out of SNA? That’s amazing!
That’s awesome that you were able to figure out a convenient way to get to SNA from LA. However, I see two problems with the 470. One, it takes 40 minutes to get to the airport because it is essentially doing a roundabout Irvine before finally making it to the airport. By car or taxi, it takes only 15-20 minutes even w/ traffic. Jamboree is pretty much a 4 lane expressway until it hits Barranca where the lights are then pretty much synchronized to give greens until Main.
Two, the 470 only runs when Metrolink runs, which is only during peak hour and only on weekdays. The 470 doesn’t run with the new Metrolink weekend service. So, unless you need to be at the airport within weekeday peak periods, then it isn’t all that convenient. I believe the only other bus that serves SNA is the 76 which doesn’t serve any Metrolink stations at all. It runs every 30 (weekday) to 60 (weekend) minutes between Fashion Island and Huntington Beach along the Talbert/MacArthur alignment.
Yeah, you know what I don’t even remember… but it was cheaper somehow and the time schedule was better for my needs.
It’s not a perfect plan, and I wouldn’t called it “convenient”, but it worked for me this time. The bus trip was amazingly long and roundabout… was kind of cool to see that area though, I had never been to Irvine.
I guess my point is that sometimes, as a car-free person round these parts, you can finagle out some car-free solutions in situations where you wouldn’t think they existed.
Cool beans. The Station Link system is a good find. On a somewhat related note, I’ve always thought it would be nice if LB transit did a similar bus link between the Wardlow Blue Line station and LB airport, as of now the only 1 seat ride between the Blue Line and LGB is the 111 which starts downtown, unless you want to catch the 102 at Willow and ride to Spring/Lakewood and then walk nearly a mile - hey, it’s still just one seat! With Jet Blue flying from Burbank I doubt LGB will ever lure Fred from his Downtown LA digs, at least until there’s a better bus.
Who know man, Kayak.com might lead me to LGB. Crazier things have happened.
Yeah, I’ll be trying the Metrolink to BUR thing next month, it may actually get me to post again if it goes especially well/badly ;p. I haven’t had opportunity to take Metrolink yet, but I’ll probably end up taking it to Glendale on Thursday because the 92 is the slow boat to China [the SFV]. That’s good to know about John Wayne, but I think it’d have to be a pretty cheap deal for me to do John Wayne or Long Beach over LAX or BUR. But after having lived in New York I actually find LAX to be kind of pleasant… I’m sure I’m in the minority.
I don’t mind LAX, it’s certainly the easiest to get to for me. But Express Jet from Ontario is just too good of a deal to pass up, and on this last trip out of Santa Ana I was really pinching pennies, so I took whatever was cheapest.
I tried to do the same thing this Chritmas and was excited to think I might be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, my return flight arrived at John Wayne around noon and I would have had to wait for something like 3-4 hours for evening service to begin. I ended up having to drive. Nice to know it can be done though and that I’m not the only one who gets a kick out of figuring out new transit routes.
Yeah, on the way back I was going to have to wait an hour, but my flight ended up getting canceled and they moved me to another carrier that flew me directly to LAX
Funny story though, at LAX I had to wait an hour for the damn Flyaway.
When I was living in Chatsworth, I’d park in the station, take Metrolink or Amtrak to Burbank Airport, and hop on a plane. No-one bothered my car at the station overnight, and it was a cool way to save on parking costs, while avoiding that long tiring drive from the airport once I got back.
I knew a few commuters (laywers, mostly) who would occasionally need to run up to the Bay Area or Sacramento once or twice a week. They’d use their normal Metrolink train, but instead of riding all the way downtown, they’d get off at Burbank Airport and catch their planes. Nice!
For future reference, the way to get to John Wayne Airport without the Metrolink shuttle, or when it’s not running, is to take the remote parking lot shuttle and alight there. See this map. Then walk over to Main Street and take the 53 to Downtown Santa Ana and transfer a bus to Santa Ana Metrolink (62, 83, one of the Metrolink shuttles); or walk over to Red Hill and Main and catch the 71 for a direct trip to Anaheim Canyon Metrolink station. Remember that Metrolink tickets are valid as OCTA transfers (although, to my recollection, one way tickets do not function as day passes unlike in Los Angeles County, although they are not collected on each boarding).
Looks like some additional options will be available from Metrolink to John Wayne Airport. There is a new “Irvine Shuttle” that will connect the Tustin Metrolink Station to SNA:
Route A connects the Tustin Metrolink Station to the John Wayne Airport via Von Karman Ave. The Route will meet the morning and afternoon Metrolink trains and provide 30-minute midday service. Weekday service starts at 5:00a and ends at 7:30p. Service will also be provided on Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays on a 30-minute frequency from 8:00a to 5:30p. Service starts on this route on June 9, 2008.
http://www.irvineshuttle.net/route_info