Greater Los Angeles has a complex multimodal transportation infrastructure, which serves as a regional, national and international hub for passenger and freight traffic. The transportation system of Greater Los Angeles includes the United States' largest port complex, seven commuter rail lines, Amtrak service, a subway system within the city of Los Angeles, and numerous highways. Los Angeles is integrated into the Interstate Highway System by Interstate 5, Interstate 10, and Interstate 15, along with numerous auxiliary highways and state routes. Bus service is also included locally within the area by numerous local government agencies. Subways and light commuter rail lines are present within Los Angeles proper, allowing mass transportation within the city. Commuter railroads are run by Metrolink. Amtrak has numerous railroad lines that connect Los Angeles to the rest of the country.
People in Los Angeles rely on cars as the dominant mode of transportation, [1] but starting in 1990 Los Angeles Metro Rail has built over 100miles of light and heavy rail serving more and more parts of Los Angeles.
See main article: List of airports in the Los Angeles area. Greater Los Angeles has five airports served by commercial airlines. In addition to these airports, there are many general aviation airports in the region.
The busiest in both the region and in the state, LAX is a major international gateway for the country.
Located in Orange County, it is the second-busiest in the area.
Located in Ontario in San Bernardino County, it serves as an overflow to LAX.
The smallest of the primary airports in Los Angeles County, it only has domestic air service.
The least busiest commercial airport in Los Angeles County
See main article: Metrolink (California).
As Greater Los Angeles' main commuter rail service, Metrolink runs eight lines through Southern California.
See main article: Los Angeles Metro Rail. The Los Angeles Metro Rail is a light rail and rapid transit system that serves primarily Los Angeles and its surrounding cities. There are several routes associated to this system, which follows:
A 350miles Amtrak California passenger train route serving communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
A 1377miles passenger train route operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States. It runs from Union Station in Los Angeles north to King Street Station in Seattle, Washington.
A 2265miles passenger train route operated by Amtrak through the Midwestern and Southwestern United States. It runs from Union Station in Los Angeles east through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois to Chicago Union Station in Chicago, Illinois.
A passenger train that for most of its history has run between Los Angeles and New Orleans, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental passenger train in American history (ignoring, of course, the comparatively small gaps between its endpoint stations and the respective seacoasts).
Buses in Greater Los Angeles are provided by several governmental entities, including Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Riverside Transit Agency, Omnitrans (San Bernardino County), and Gold Coast Transit (Ventura County).
See also: Southern California freeways.
The Greater Los Angeles area operates on a very extensive network of public roadways that allows vehicle drivers convenient direct access to all practical destinations in the area.
Santa Catalina Island is served by several ferry lines with regular daily service to Newport Beach, San Pedro, Long Beach, Marina del Rey, and Dana Point. One such line is Catalina Express.