MBTA opens Wareham CapeFLYER station, LACMTA approves LAX people mover connection
Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) officially opened the Wareham Village Station on the CapeFLYER line. Service to the Wareham Village Station began June 27 at the new stop, located off of Main Street in Wareham.
“I’m thrilled to see CapeFLYER expanding its service; meeting the growing demand for quick, stress-free, affordable transportation to the Cape,” said MBTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott. “The MBTA and Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) know the value in transportation investment and Wareham Village Station is another example of our commitment to improve and expand service throughout the commonwealth.”
On the other side of the United States, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) Board of Directors unanimously approved a new light-rail station at Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street along the Crenshaw/LAX Line as the best option to serve as the “gateway” transfer point to an automated people mover that would take people to terminals at Los Angeles International Airport. The people mover is being planned by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which would build the project.
LACMTA must environmentally clear the station, design it and identify the funding before anything gets built. The Crenshaw/LAX Line is currently under construction and the new station would be added to that project. That project is scheduled to be completed in 2019; the people mover could be completed as early as 2022.
“This is a historic day for LAX and a historic day for our city because we’re finally on the way to bringing rail to LAX,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said. “I think we’ll be able to fix a historic mistake of our past.”
The LACMTA Green Line came up two miles short of LAX and requires a shuttle bus ride to reach airport terminals. The new Aviation/96th station would also serve some Green Line trains.
The new Aviation/96th station would be about .4 miles north of the station to be built at Aviation and Century boulevards as part of the Crenshaw/LAX Line. The idea is that the Aviation/96th station would be the gateway for passengers headed to LAX while the Aviation/Century station would connect riders to the many businesses along the Century Boulevard corridor.
LAWA is scheduled to finalize details on the people mover alignment and the number of stations near airport terminals in December 2014.
