FlyAway bus service carrying passengers along a 22- mile route between downtown Long Beach and Los Angeles International Airport began Wednesday.
Hourly service will be provided from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily from Shelter A of the Long Beach Transit Gallery at the corner of First Street and Long Beach Boulevard.
A promotional fare of $7 will be charged for a one-way trip during at least the first six months of the service. For each adult fare, two children age 5 and under can ride for free.
The FlyAway shuttles are run by Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX and Van Nuys Airport.
The Airport Commission, which oversees LAWA, awarded a contract in October to the Long Beach Public Transportation Co. to operate the Long Beach FlyAway service.
Airport officials said the ZIP code area being served by the Long Beach shuttle is home to the fifth largest number of passengers using LAX.
FlyAway service is also available from Hollywood, Santa Monica, Westwood/UCLA, Van Nuys, Union Station and the Metro Orange Line’s Woodley Station in Lake Balboa.
In other FlyAway news, fares for the Van Nuys, Metro Orange Line and Union Station airport shuttles will increase from $8 to $9 on New Year’s Day, airport officials said. The fare will increase to $9.75 in 2017.
The rate increase, approved by airport commissioners in May, is aimed at reducing the FlyAway bus line’s ongoing deficit by about $1.3 million.
–City News Service