Don't get me wrong, I too look forward to the LAX airport connection, but it's important to note that historical transit data throughout the U.S. indicates that few people who fly actually use public transit to travel to or from the airport. In fact Metro itself predicts that not even 1% of flyers will do so once the Crenshaw line is completed.
(Sources: Here:
http://publictransport.about.com/od/...o-Airports.htm
and Here:
http://www.laweekly.com/informer/201...e-train-to-lax)
Much like the notion that sports arenas/stadiums can singlehandedly turn around central cities, the image of vacationing families hopping on trains with all their luggage turns out not to have much of a basis in reality.
This is not to say, however, that a connection to LAX will not generate enormous ridership benefits! It's just that the people who will make up the lion's share of those trips are in fact airport employees, not travelers. LAX is essentially its own business district providing 60,000 jobs on-site. As a basis for comparison, this is roughly equivalent to the total amount of employees at USC and UCLA
combined.
Bottom line: the LAX connection is very important, but we should be forthright about who exactly will be taking advantage of it. If Metro is truly being held back by it's lack of appeal to middle and upper income Angelenos, as edluva and others seem to agree, then rail access to Santa Monica is probably more likely to adjust the current dynamic than rail access serving airport employees .