Southern California Transportation Systems
Southern California Car, Shuttle & Limo Rentals
Automobile is the transportation of choice in Southern California. If you hadn't planned on renting a car, you might want to rethink those plans---because it's tough to get from Disneyland to the San Diego Zoo if you don't have your own wheels. Rental cars are available at every airport from several well-known brands like Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, Budget, etc.
You can also rent a limo, chauffeured town car or an airport shuttle to take you where you need to go. A limo is the coolest way to experience Southern California, but shuttles and town cars will get you there too.
Southern California Airports
LAX is the best-known commercial airport in Southern California, and has the advantage of offering flights to almost anywhere at almost anytime. But no one ever woke up and said, "I can't wait to fly through LAX today!" Depending on where you're coming from, you might be able to avoid the crowds and save some time by coming through one of Southern California's smaller airports. Here are the options, listed by location from north to south. Links to the official airport sites are listed at the left.
SBA: Santa Barbara Airport in Santa Barbara
BUR: Bob Hope Airport in Burbank (LA County)
LAX: Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles
ONT: Ontario International Airport in Ontario (San Bernardino County)
LGB: Long Beach Airport in Long Beach (South LA County)
SNA: John Wayne International Airport in Santa Ana (Orange County)
PSP: Palm Springs International Airport in Palm Springs (Riverside County)
SAN: San Diego International Airport in San Diego
Metro Rail
The Metro Rail system consists of five colored lines: Red, Purple, Blue, Green and Orange. Fares are inexpensive and the system provides decent coverage of the LA region. Stops include Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Downtown LA, North Hollywood, and Pasadena. Avoid the Metro system during commuting hours; the Blue Line in particular gets really crowded between 7am and 8am and between 5pm and 6 pm. Click here to see the system map.
Southern California Train Service
Amtrak provides train service throughout Southern California and the country. Rail travel isn't as popular in the U.S. as it is in Europe, but it's still an inexpensive way to get around. Amtrak has routes than run within Southern California and routes that link Southern California to other parts of the country. If you're looking for a coastal tour of Southern California, consider the Pacific Surfliner: It runs from Paso Robles to San Diego. See all of Amtrak's California routes here.
Union Station
The Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, also known as Union Station, is a major hub for rail, light rail and subway travel in the LA area. Wikipedia's Union Station page provides a pretty extensive list of the public transportation services that run through Union Station. Travelers should note that the FlyAway Bus provides inexpensive, non-stop service between Union Station and LAX. Union Station is located at 801 Vignes Street in Los Angeles.
