How long will it take from LAX?

[waltonmkb]

Our flight lands at 8:15am at LAX on a Wednesday morning. By the time we get our bags we should be heading to DLR around 9am. How bad will traffic be and how long will it take to get to DLR?

 

[SMD]

Are you renting a car? If so, it's offsite, you won't be leaving by 9am.

It's about 40 minutes with no traffic, 1 hour with typical traffic, up to 90 minutes or more if there's an accident, rain or it's a holiday or something.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Are you renting a car? If so, it's offsite, you won't be leaving by 9am.

It's about 40 minutes with no traffic, 1 hour with typical traffic, up to 90 minutes or more if there's an accident, rain or it's a holiday or something.

I agree... so figure on about an hour. It will be busy, but you will be going "against traffic," meaning that you should have a smooth ride, without a lot of stop and go.

Best route: 105-east-> 605-south -> 91-east (carpool lane) -> 5-south (carpool lane to either Disneyland Drive or get in the right-lane if getting off at Harbor Blvd)

<edited to correction direction >

 

[SMD]

I agree... so figure on about an hour. It will be busy, but you will be going "against traffic," meaning that you should have a smooth ride, without a lot of stop and go.

Best route: 105-west -> 60-south -> 91-west (carpool lane) -> 5-south (carpool lane to either Disneyland Drive or get in the right-lane if getting off at Harbor Blvd)

Shouldn't it be 105 eat, 605 south, 91 east, 5 south? I usually use Waze and sometimes it recommends 110 south instead of 605.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Shouldn't it be 105 eat, 605 south, 91 east, 5 south? I usually use Waze and sometimes it recommends 110 south instead of 605.

Oops!!! Thanks for the correction.

I've never taken 110 south instead of 605... but, that is not my normal route. I work by LAX, but live near the western end of 91, so I usually just take the 91 to the 5.

 

[ludari]

If you will have two or more in your car, make sure you take advantage of using the carpool lane on the 105, 91 and 5 freeways. No need to use the carpool lane on the 605 since the distance between the exchange the 105/605/91 is short.

 

[ktlm]

It really just depends on your luck in getting the van to the car rental and the car rental lines. We were lucky enough that we walked out and stepped right onto the van and then only had 1 or 2 people ahead of us in line to get the car. We arrived at LAX at 7:30 a.m., and were walking into the hotel at 9:00. The drive itself was 40 minutes. You should be going mostly against traffic.

 

[Darkbeer1]

If you will have two or more in your car, make sure you take advantage of using the carpool lane on the 105, 91 and 5 freeways. No need to use the carpool lane on the 605 since the distance between the exchange the 105/605/91 is short.

Well, there is no carpool lane on the 605...

But take advantage of the special Carpool exits for the 91/5 exchange, and then on Disneyland Drive.

And on the way back, you can access the northbound 5 using a direct carpool entrance (places you on the left lane directly) if you go to Gene Autry Lane, which is just south of Katella.

I agree with the 105 to 605 to 91 to 5 option as the best on paper. (And I am a local and use it). But I also have a TomTom GPS with live traffic, and sometimes the 91 to the 405 works, but it is a bit weird (confusing) getting from the 91 to the 405. But I strongly recommend using some sort of live traffic assistance. A SmartPhone app works great, but make sure that the driver doesn't hold it (against the law), either get a dashboard mount, or have a passenger hold it and let the driver know. I usually bring my TomTom when I travel, and most rental car companies will rent you a device.

 

[waltonmkb]

Are you renting a car? If so, it's offsite, you won't be leaving by 9am.

We're not renting a car, probably going to take an Uber. I was just worried about getting stuck in morning rush hour traffic for several hours! Thanks for all the replies!

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, if you land at LAX, we have to look at the following...

Is the flight Domestic or from Canada (pre-checked) or need to go through Customs/Immigration?

Will you have checked luggage? (LAX is large and spread out, getting the bags usually is about a 30 minute wait)

Planning to use Uber/Lyft or pre-arranged Shuttle... LAX doesn't allow them to enter airport property (they have special holding areas ) until you are at the curb and then call them. And with Uber/Lyft, the driver might not even be in the holding area, adding more waiting time....

So I wouldn't count on the 9 AM time, but still, you are looking at about 1 hour in travel time after being picked up