City Council approves additional $400 million to complete LAX's Automated People Mover, settle legal claims
Los Angeles City Council members unanimously voted to increase the total cost of the Automated People Mover project at Los Angeles International Airport, approving an additional $400 million on Friday.
The vote, which was recommended by the council's Trade, Travel and Tourism Committee and the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commission, comes after months of delay to the project that is now slated to begin operating in early 2026.
The funding is needed in order to address legal claims that were filed by the contractor in regards to compensation and production, LINXS or LAX Integrated Express Solutions. Some claims date back to 2018.
This is the second time this year that millions more in additional funding have been approved after the Los Angeles World Airports board approved $200 million in May, also used to settle similar claims that were made by the contractor. That money, however, is to be included as part of the $400 million agreed upon on Friday. in all, the settlement amount has not reached about $550 million.
Airport officials say that an additional $50 million will be part of a contingency that may or may not be allocated fully.
The APM project is part of LAX's massive and ongoing $30 billion upgrade to terminals, parking structures and gates.
Officials are hopeful that the project will be completed by the expected date, which would be just in time for a slew of massive events heading to the area in coming years, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.
"This remains a very, very complicated project," said LAWA CEO John Ackerman. "We're entering a phase where we're moving from the construction of the guideways and the tracks and the stations and the vertical circulation that connects this system to the airport. We're moving into the actual train testing phase."
Construction on the project began in 2019 and once completed is expected to carry about 30 million passengers annually, hopefully decreasing the amount of vehicle traffic around the airport.