Opening in 2024, the Los Angeles World Airports’ (LAWA’s) Automated People Mover (APM) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has garnered another significant sustainability honor.
At the Los Angeles Sustainability Coalition’s (LASC’s) annual trailblazer awards dinner, the APM was named LASC’s 2023 trailblazer project of the year. Regarded by many as the centerpiece of LAX’s $14-billion-dollar transformation, the electric train features six stations—three inside the airport’s central terminal area (CTA) and three outside—along a 3.6-km (2.25-mi) elevated guideway. Once operational, passengers will have time-guaranteed access to the CTA in 10 minutes or less, creating a streamlined airport arrival and departure experience.
“The positive impacts of LAX’s APM will be felt for generations to come. Sustainably built to reduce airport guests’ reliance on personal automobiles and better connect them to greater Los Angeles, the project is key to our larger environmentally minded transformation,” says Justin Erbacci, CEO, LAWA. “We are thankful to LASC for honoring the APM with the 2023 trailblazer project of the year and share this recognition with the project’s developer, LINXS, the local workforce building the APM, and the entire LAWA team helping to realize the transformation of our airport.”
The APM is a zero-emissions, electric train that creates its own power through a regenerative braking system that captures energy which is otherwise lost during vehicle braking. A solar power system on the roof of the APM’s maintenance and storage facility (MSF) will provide 40 percent of the facility’s energy needs and seven percent of the overall APM’s power requirements. In addition, the APM’s train cars are made from fully recyclable aluminum shells. Prior to being named LASC’s 2023 trailblazer project of the year, the APM’s sustainability track record was acknowledged with an Envision gold certification for its MSF by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI).
“We are proud to help bring this new, sustainable transportation option to LAX, one of the world’s busiest airports,” says Sam Choy, project director at LINXS Constructors. “Travelers will soon be able to catch a glimpse of what’s to come when train car testing begins this summer.”
Known for its work in providing a sustainable and better environmental future for the Los Angeles region, LASC helps address the construction and operations needs of the transportation industry. It provides a forum for public and private practitioners, product developers, and the public to exchange and leverage ideas and resources for the goal of attaining an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable region.
LAX’s multi-billion-dollar capital improvement program that will touch on all nine passenger terminals and build new facilities, along with the APM train, other features are the Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) facility, and the West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
