Perhaps you were on the wrong (upper) level? There are 24hr airport terminal shuttle busses that loop LAX and multiple ways to take public transport to DTLA (eg

Perhaps you were on the wrong (upper) level? There are 24hr airport terminal shuttle busses that loop LAX and multiple ways to take public transport to DTLA (eg FlyAway busses at terminals 4-7, which might have been full?). You can also take a 10min Lyft to the Mariposa MetroC and take trains all the way to downtown. I've never heard of it being full. Generally, Google Maps works in LA even if the distances are long and infrastructure lacking. The same cannot be said for the Shanghai Pudong Airport (PDX) and getting PuXi (anywhere in the main city west of the HangPu river). I mean, I like the maglev, but it's really the only "public transport" and since it was never completed, it doesn't go anywhere convenient. Everyone takes taxis everywhere.