| Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) |
Master Plan Basics
Traffic (On Airport)
Traffic (Off Airport)
Cargo
Relocation/Acquisition
Environmental Justice
Phasing
Cost & Funding
Other Regional Airports
Master Plan Basics
What is the LAX Master Plan?
The LAX Master Plan is a vision for the future. It describes how LAX can accommodate its appropriate share of the aviation demand in meeting the region’s future needs, while balancing those needs with environmental concerns, safety and security, and the concerns of the airport’s neighbors. It will be used as a broad policy statement regarding the conceptual strategic framework for future improvements at LAX.
What is involved in the Master Plan?
The Master Plan is focused on enhanced safety and security measures. The Plan separates the commercial and private vehicle landside components of the airport from the passenger processing facilities and gates to provide greater security. A new landside Ground Transportation Center (GTC) and a new Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) with connection to the Green Line will provide parking and curb front services. New on-airport roadways will be developed to support the GTC and ITC. The Central Terminal Area will be redeveloped to support a variety of enhanced security measures. An automated people mover system conveniently connects the GTC, ITC, and new consolidated rental car facility, to the Central Terminal Area. A center taxiway will be added between the runways for increased safety and more efficient movement of aircraft. Gate space is reconfigured to allow LAX to accommodate approximately 78.9 million annual passengers. Cargo space is designed to accommodate approximately 3.1 million annual tons.
How will safety be affected by the Master Plan?
LAX operates safely today and it will operate safely tomorrow. Air safety is the number one concern of both LAWA and the FAA.
Improving the airfield will make it possible to operate the airfield safely while at the same time making it more efficient. The construction of center taxiways in both the north and the south airfields will reduce the possibility of runway incursions and increase runway safety. Existing runways will be realigned to provide more separation of large and small aircraft for take-offs and landings. For aircraft on the ground, the Plan will increase the physical separation between runways and taxiways, and enlarge aircraft maneuvering areas and clearances, allowing aircraft to circulate more efficiently and with fewer delays. The design of the north airfield will accommodate Group VI (new large aircraft) while design standards for the south airfield will be to Group V (747) standards.
How does the Master Plan address security?
The Master Plan features new and redeveloped facilities that provide greater security of passengers as they move from landside to airside operations. The new landside facilities separate vehicle access and substantially reduce the potential for a vehicular bomb or other devices to incapacitate core airport facilities, including the FAA control tower, Central Utility Plant, and fueled aircraft. The landside facilities will also be designed to accommodate preliminary security measures such as canine patrol units, security cameras, behavioral observation and advanced technology devices. Updated law enforcement and fire facilities to enhance the ability of these departments to respond to emergency situations and facilitate coordination with other emergency response agencies will be developed.
Where can I get more information about the details of the LAX Master Plan and associated program documents?
The LAX Master Plan and final program environmental and entitlements documents are posted in their entirety on the project website at www.laxmasterplan.org/publications.
Passenger Demand
How much passenger demand will the Master Plan accommodate?
The Master Plan is designed to accommodate approximately 78.9 million annual passengers, about 19 million fewer passengers annually than the forecasted unconstrained LAX demand in 2015.
How can LAX limit the amount of passengers it handles?
LAX cannot legally turn away any passenger or aircraft that wants to come to LAX. However the Master Plan will reconfigure the gates and terminal building frontage to place important practical constraints on numbers of operations and passengers handled at LAX. The number of gate positions will be reduced from 163 to 153, thus effectively limiting the throughput at LAX.
Impacts
What will the noise impacts be?
Under the Master Plan, the total population exposed to a widely recognized noise impact threshold will be virtually the same as those exposed had the LAX Master Plan not been adopted. The analysis reveals little difference between the aircraft noise exposure patterns. In fact the number of persons exposed to noise in excess of 65 CNEL, when compared to the 1996 Baseline Conditions, decreases by more than 6,000 persons.
The widely recognized noise impact threshold is called the 65 decibel Community Noise Equivalency Level (CNEL).
How will LAWA mitigate the noise impacts?
Although the existing noise impact will not substantially change, there are three major ways that LAWA proposes to continue with the voluntary program to mitigate the noise impact of LAX on the local community:
- purchase and relocate homes and apartment complexes,
- soundproofing, and
- enforcement of nighttime, over-ocean operations by arriving and departing aircraft.
What will the air quality impacts be?
Increased aircraft activity will potentially increase air pollution in the South Coast Air Basin. However, on a relative basis, the contribution of sources under the Master Plan is estimated to be lower than those than if we do nothing. This decrease is due to more efficient aircraft operations and improved traffic flows on and near LAX. Accelerated conversion of ground support equipment to alternative fuels and reduction of maintenance activities at LAX that will occur under the Master Plan will further reduce emissions.
The Master Plan includes several dozen mitigation measures that would reduce airport-related air quality impacts.
What kinds of air quality mitigation measures are in the Master Plan?
The highly successful Van Nuys FlyAway park-and-ride program will be expanded to a number of other areas around the region, removing thousands of LAX-bound vehicles from the freeways.
The Consolidated Rental Car Facility (RAC) will consolidate all on-airport rental car operations and connect to the Central Terminal Area and Intermodal Transportation Center via a people mover system, eliminating the impacts of more than 1 million shuttles trips a year.
LAX now provides special aircraft electrical power at almost all of its passenger air carrier operations gates so that it is no longer necessary for pilots to idle their auxiliary power engines, thereby reducing tons of aircraft emissions per year.
More than 80 percent of the airport’s gates are using energy-saving preconditioned air, resulting in a reduction of tons of aircraft emissions annually.
The airport operates a 55-bus clean fuel fleet system. LAWA has also converted more than 45 percent of its 730-vehicle fleet to clean-burning fuels. As more vehicles wear out and are replaced, the number of clean fuel vehicles will increase.
Traffic (On Airport)
Will the Master Plan ease traffic congestion and long lines that sometimes occur inside of LAX?
Yes, traffic congestion at LAX will be eliminated by implementation of the Plan. The Master Plan removes commercial and private vehicles from the Central Terminal Area and develops new landside facilities and an on-airport roadway system on the eastern end of the airport property. The new facilities offer improved curb front access and more than 36 new lane-miles to improve ground access and circulation. An automated people mover system and consolidated rental car facilities provide further relief to traffic congestion.
Traffic (Off Airport)
How does the Master Plan address off-airport traffic issues?
The Master Plan includes massive congestion relief components and the environmental studies show that these measures can significantly reduce the surface street and freeway impact of meeting local future aviation services demand.
The congestion relief package includes, as a recommended mitigation measure to improve traffic flows, direct freeway access to the airport from the local freeways, taking thousands of vehicles off local streets. LAX is one of the only major airports in the country that lacks this kind of direct freeway access and the proposed mitigation measures will correct this obvious flaw in the airport’s current roadway support system.
The expanded FlyAway Program and Metro Green Line connection to the Intermodal Transportation Center and the Automated People Mover System are additional ways that the airport will encourage use of mass transit by making the use of transit both convenient and cost effective.
What traffic mitigation measures will be employed to discourage residential street use?
By designing convenient easy access to the proposed Ground Transportation Center, the proposed Intermodal Transportation Center and the proposed consolidated rent-a-car facility (RAC), and by implementing mitigation measures that improve access to and from the I-405 and I-105 Freeways, there will be disincentives to “back-pedal” streets in order to reach the new airport facilities.
LAX will also provide greatly improved signage to guide passengers onto desired routes and access points away from residential streets and increase the number of FlyAway stations. LAWA continues to work with LADOT on traffic devices that will improve airport traffic flow to LAX and away from residential streets.
Cargo
How much air cargo activity will be accommodated at LAX in 2015?
LAX is currently the fifth busiest cargo airport in the world handling some 2 million tons of cargo per year. The Master Plan is designed to accommodate approximately 3.1 million annual tons of cargo in 2015.
Relocation/Acquisition
Will the Master Plan displace homes and businesses?
Proposed additional land requirements in the Master Plan will be approximately 78 acres, which represents only a 2 percent increase in the airport’s total land mass.
LAX, independent of the Master Plan, already has underway a major acquisition and relocation plan for noise mitigation purposes. There is no additional acquisition of homes proposed in the Master Plan over the existing noise mitigation program. The property of approximately 34 commercial businesses will be acquired.
By law any relocated homeowners and businesses must have comparable replacement housing in place before they move.
Environmental Justice
What is LAWA doing to ensure that its minority and low-income neighbors do not bear an undue burden of increased airport activity and share in the benefits of the project?
The Master Plan environmental documents set out the first steps for a proactive Environmental Justice (EJ) Program. The EJ Program is an evolving program developed in collaboration with the airport’s neighbors.
LAWA has conducted workshops specific to Environmental Justice within the minority and low-income communities affected by the LAX Master Plan. These workshops have allowed LAWA to work with the community to develop programs and mitigation measures that will provide direct benefits of the modernization program to these communities. Job outreach and training programs will be a key part of the effort.
Additional workshops and meetings will be held at times and places readily accessible to minority and low-income individuals to involve the community in further development of programs associated with implementation of the Master Plan.
How does the Community Benefits Agreement assist LAX’s minority and low-income neighbors?
The Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) provides for increased funding for noise mitigation measures, especially for those school districts and minority and low-income communities immediately east of LAX.
The CBA provides for $15 million in job training programs that specifically target residents in the Project Impact Area. A new First Source Hiring Program gives local residents early access to airport jobs. LAWA will expand its Small Business Attraction and Retention Program to increase participation of small businesses, minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses in contract opportunities at LAX.
The CBA also provides for community-based research studies and various proposals, such as the conversion of on-site trucks, shuttles and buses to alternative fuel, that will improve air quality and reduce emissions in and around the local communities.
Phasing
What is the construction phasing for the Master Plan?
The Master Plan is comprised of a number of projects that overlap and will be built in three phases to the horizon year 2015.
Phase I: Relocate South airfield runway (RW 25L), South airfield center taxiway, Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC), connection to the Green Line, Consolidated Rental Car facilities, the roadways between the ITC and the new Ground Transportation Center (GTC), Automated People Mover System, demolition of parking structures in the Central Terminal Area (CTA), develop the GTC, and landside terminals in the CTA.
Phase II: Relocate midfield ancillary facilities and clear midfield area, tunnel from CTA to Satellite concourse, construct midfield aprons and taxiways, baggage system from CTA to Satellite concourse, rework southern CTA concourses, construct Satellite concourse.
Phase III: North airfield ancillary facilities, rework Tom Bradley International Terminal, rework fuel farm, construct north CTA concourses, aprons, and taxiways, rework north airfield taxiways, construct north airfield center taxiway, construct relocated north runway (RW 6R-24L).
How does the LAX Specific Plan work? Will it affect the construction schedule?
The LAX Specific Plan establishes procedures for approval of all defined Projects in the LAX Master Plan Program. It requires an LAX Plan Compliance review and approval for each Project. This review is based upon a description of the Project, a complete initial environmental study, a traffic generation report and an aviation activity analysis. The Executive Director and the Board of Airport Commissioners will make a recommendation to City Council that it approve, approve with conditions, modify or deny a request for an LAX Plan Compliance. City Council will have the ultimate authority to make a decision on each Project.
The procedures are different for a short list of the most controversial Projects. The Specific Plan requires a higher level of scrutiny for these Projects and a more difficult approval process. City Council also maintains the ultimate determination on the approval and subsequent construction of these Projects.
The Specific Plan does not establish a sequence of construction, but rather establishes a procedure for review and approval for all Projects.
Will all the projects be lumped into one Environmental Impact Report?
All of these projects are addressed within the Final EIR at a program level of analysis. During the course of implementing these projects, each individual project will be required to undergo a project level evaluation to determine what additional environmental analysis may be required.
Cost & Funding
How much will the Master Plan Cost?
The estimated cost of construction of all projects in the Master Plan is $11 billion.
Who will pay for the Master Plan improvements?
The Master Plan improvements will be funded primarily by passenger facility charges, landing fees, airport facility leases, concession fees, and airport revenue bonds. Federal Airport Improvement Program grants and federal and state funds for infrastructure and transportation projects important to the state’s economy are also expected to help finance aspects of the project. The Master Plan will receive no funding from the General Fund of the City.
Other Regional Airports
Why not leave LAX alone and develop other airports in the region?
The role LAX serves as the primary international airport of the region gives prominence to the need to modernize the facilities at LAX to ensure that the appropriate activity levels uniquely served by LAX are maintained and that the region secures the associated economic benefits. Many of today’s facilities at LAX, from the airfield to the terminals, date back to the 1960s and 1980s and are in dire need of modernization simply to sustain and serve the current demand in a safe, secure and efficient manner.
In fact, the LAX Master Plan assumes that the LAX share of the region’s passenger service will drop sharply, even with improvements in its ability to serve the projected demand.
As population density increases in outlying areas of the region, other airports must play larger roles in absorbing growing demand for air travel, particularly for domestic flights. Those other airports include Ontario, Palmdale, Long Beach, Burbank, and John Wayne. LAWA is already aggressively pursuing growth for its facilities at Ontario and Palmdale.
What role does the LAX Master Plan play in overall regional airport planning?
The LAX Master Plan has been built on an assumption that all local commercial airports will be needed to accommodate Southern California’s future air transportation needs. The Master Plan is designed to accommodate approximately 78.9 million annual passengers. LAWA encourages the development of the region’s other airports. In fact, there is no way to meet regional demand without major development at the region’s other airports.
What is LAWA now doing to help the rest of the region meet demand?
LAWA also operates two of the region’s other important commercial airports: Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD). The ability of these airports to absorb their share of the region’s increased passenger and cargo demands is a central part of LAWA planning. LAWA has master planning efforts underway at ONT and at PMD to examine their potential to accommodate increased demand.
Information on these other LAWA master planning efforts can be found on the project websites www.ontmasterplan.org and www.pmdmasterplan.org.
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