When I read the reports about the flooding caused by Katrina I was struck by how far the floodwaters spread. The city does NOT have interior dikes to contain floodwaters. Had the dikes existed they could have boulevards (and possibly transit) on top and hardened utilities inside (electricity, communications, storm sewers, etc.). The storm and flooding knocked out power and phone service for most of the city. But had the dikes been in place there would have been less disruption and faster recovery.

So don’t take too many pot shots at the Corps of Engineers. They do make mistakes but they also cope decently with a bitch of a juggling act.

The airport authority (LAWA) needs a complete education on what an international airport looks like and how it functions. LAX is like a drivethru McDonald’s window serving a high speed rail line… A couple of easy and cheap upgrades would go a long way:

1. Enable passengers to transfer between terminals without exiting secured areas. Add several bus bays inside each terminals and run buses both clockwise and counter clockwise so connecting passengers from another city can get to his/her final flight without having to clear TSA again. This is a short term solution of course… LAX is such a big airport that it needs a people mover badly.

2. Move all airlines within the same alliance to the same terminal. Or at least neighboring terminals. It makes no sense that Air NZ is in terminal 2 while United is across the airport in terminal 6, and ANA is in Bradley. LAX is the only major international airport that I know of that makes ZERO efforts to put Sky Team, OneWorld, and Star Alliance airlines in close proximity. If they did this and nothing else, the traveling experience at LAX will improve by 1000%

3. Upgrade the VIP areas in all terminal, especially Bradley. It’s seriously embarrassing that the business class lounge at LAX looks like the reception area of a gym.

4. Change the vehicle flow pattern so instead of departure upper level, arrival lower level; it becomes bus and shuttles upper level, taxi and passenger cars lower level. Separating transit vehicles from other vehicles will speed up movements of people to rental car and hotel desks, not to mention city bus and Green line light rail.

5. Following changes to #4, it will then be possible to allow city buses to arrive at LAX curb side at each terminal instead of at the Bus Center.

6. Refurbish the gate areas of terminal 1, 2, 7 and Bradley. These are seriously some of the ugliest and most run down of all terminals in the USA. Terminal 4 (AA) and 5 (Delta) are pretty good (no great but not terrible).

None of these changes will involve hundred of million of investments but will pay immediate dividend.

Of course, longer term, LAX needs to build that people mover and expand Bradley terminal. And having the Green line/Crenshaw line come closer to the terminals will be a plus too.

The energy that is wasted everyday is astounding, people going to work leaving their AC to keep the house at 70 degrees, everybody having a washer and dryer to do laundry, things like that. The wasteful habits that have become the norm can be easily curbed by a smart grid and that means everybody saves money in the process, even the energy companies because it will allow them to run a more efficient setup. The trivial BS being preached is astounding. For once I’d like to see pro’s and cons without bias and BS. Just the facts.

I also don’t understand the near-constant complaining about it being “dilapidated” and “shabby” and the like, it seems about the same as most airports to me. Maybe it’s just the international terminal.