Los Angeles isn’t one simple network like some cities — it’s Metro (the big county-wide agency) plus a handful of smaller city bus systems, all bridged by one fare card. That sounds complicated, but in practice: tap TAP everywhere, and you’re covered on almost everything.
The basics
LA Metro runs the backbone: six rail lines and most of the county’s buses.
- A Line and E Line — light rail, both running through downtown via the underground Regional Connector.
- B Line and D Line — the subway, running underground from Union Station and downtown out through Hollywood and the Wilshire corridor.
- C Line and K Line — light rail in the South Bay, meeting at the new LAX/Metro Transit Center.
- Metro Busway (G and J Lines) — bus rapid transit on dedicated lanes.
- Metro Local, Rapid, and Micro — the bus network and on-demand microtransit that fills in everywhere else.
On top of Metro, several cities run their own buses: LADOT operates DASH, the small circulator buses that loop through downtown and various neighborhoods, plus Commuter Express routes; Big Blue Bus covers Santa Monica and the west side; Culver CityBus covers Culver City. All of them accept TAP. Regional trips beyond the county — to places like Orange County or the Inland Empire — run on Metrolink, a separate commuter railroad based at Union Station with its own ticket.
How to pay
Everything on Metro (and nearly everything on the smaller city bus systems) runs on TAP, the tap-to-ride fare card, with a few ways to pay:
- Tap a contactless bank card or your phone (Apple Pay, Google Pay) right on the reader — it charges the regular adult fare and applies transfers and fare capping automatically.
- Get a TAP card ($2) from a vending machine at any rail station or a TAP vendor, then load it with cash or card. This is the way to go for reduced fares.
- Pay cash on the bus — exact change only, no transfers included. Metro Rail doesn’t accept cash at all; you need a TAP card or contactless tap to get through the fare gates.
Rail stations have fare gates (unlike some cities’ honor-system light rail), so tap in and out at the validators before you board.
Fares
A single fare covers 2 hours of transfers across the system:
| Fare | Day cap | Week cap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | $1.75 | $5.00 | $18.00 |
| Senior / Disabled / Medicare | reduced | $2.50 | $5.00 |
Fare capping means you never pay more than the cap on the same card — tap enough in a day or week and the rest of that period is free. Students at participating K-12, adult, and community colleges ride free with a GoPass, and the LIFE program gives qualifying low-income LA County residents 20 free rides a month. If you’ll be riding across multiple agencies (Metro plus a city bus system, say), the EZ Transit Pass covers dozens of Southern California operators with one monthly pass.
Getting from the airport
LAX doesn’t have a train running straight into its terminals yet, but there are two solid ways in:
By rail (cheapest): Take the C Line or K Line to the LAX/Metro Transit Center, then hop the free shuttle that runs every 10 minutes between the station and every terminal. It’s the regular $1.75 Metro fare — no premium airport surcharge. Heading further into the city from there: the K Line connects at Expo/Crenshaw to the E Line, and the C Line connects at Willowbrook/Rosa Parks to the A Line, both of which run through downtown. A direct rail-to-terminal connection — the LAX Automated People Mover — is planned to open in 2026, which will skip the shuttle entirely.
By bus (direct to Union Station): The FlyAway bus (run by the airport, not Metro) goes straight from LAX to Union Station with no transfers, about every 30 minutes, roughly around the clock. It costs $12.75 one-way — pay by contactless card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay only; FlyAway doesn’t take cash.
Apps to download
- LA Metro — the official app for trip planning, real-time arrivals, and service alerts.
- TAP — buy or reload a TAP card, or load a virtual one into your phone’s wallet.
- Transit — handy for stitching together routes across Metro and the various city bus systems in one place.
- Google Maps — solid for planning, with live Metro data built in.
When it runs
The C Line runs roughly every 13–20 minutes, starting around 4:40am and continuing until just after midnight most days — a reasonable stand-in for Metro Rail’s overall span, since hours are similar system-wide. Bus frequency varies a lot by route: Metro’s busiest Rapid and Local lines come every 10–15 minutes during the day, while others run much less often. A few bus routes, marked “Owl”, keep running overnight after the trains stop.
Accessibility
Every Metro rail station has a ramp, walkway, or elevator to the platform, and if a station elevator is down, Metro will put you on a free bus to the next accessible station. Buses have a wheelchair securement area (two spots per bus) and kneel for boarding; rail cars have marked accessible areas but no securement devices, so set the brakes or park against a wall. Access is the region’s shared-ride, curb-to-curb paratransit service for ADA-eligible riders, covering anywhere within ¾ mile of a fixed bus route or rail station, with regular service from 4am to midnight (limited service overnight).
Etiquette & local quirks
- Tap in and out at rail fare gates — unlike some cities’ buses-only tap systems, LA’s rail stations are gated, so you need a valid tap to get through, not just an honor-system reminder.
- LA is huge and polycentric — always check whether your trip needs a transfer between Metro and a city system like DASH or Big Blue Bus, since schedules and apps don’t always sync perfectly across agencies.
- Rush hour on the freeways spills onto surface buses too — if timing matters, rail is usually the more predictable choice across town.
Good to know
- FlyAway is not Metro. It’s a separate service run by the airport (LAWA), with its own fare and no TAP acceptance — budget for it separately from a regular Metro trip.
- The LAX Automated People Mover isn’t open yet. Until it is, getting from the LAX/Metro Transit Center to a terminal means the free shuttle, not a direct train.
- TAP works across the region. The same card carries your balance and transfers onto Big Blue Bus, Culver CityBus, DASH, and dozens of other Southern California operators — you don’t need a separate card for each.