Staff Reports
Alex Marlow’s latest rant on The Alex Marlow Show grabbed a hot-button target: Los Angeles World Airports’ new automated people‑mover at LAX. He called it a “taxpayer‑funded hoax” and compared the multi‑billion‑dollar SkyLink project to Disneyland’s monorail. That soundbite makes for great radio. It deserves a short, sharp fact check — and a demand for real accountability.
Marlow’s Take: Blunt and Loud
On his program, Alex Marlow — Breitbart’s Editor‑in‑Chief and show host — scoffed that “We can’t build 2 miles of monorail at LAX, but Disneyland, you build the whole park and a monorail in a year.” The line lands easy because everyone loves a simple comparison. It also ignores what this project actually is and why the public is right to be skeptical about cost and schedule.
The Facts: What SkyLink Really Is
SkyLink is not an amusement‑park ride. LAWA describes it as a 2.25‑mile, fully elevated automated people‑mover with six stations that will link terminals, parking, rental cars and regional transit. Local reporting and agency figures place the capital cost around $3.3–$3.4 billion, while the long‑term DBFOM (design/build/operate/maintain) contract value stretches to roughly $4.9 billion over decades. A Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury review and reporting show about $880 million tied to change‑orders and dispute‑related payments. Those numbers are the reason citizens are angry — and rightly so.
Testing and the Lawsuit: Why This Blew Up Again
What got Marlow his fresh clip was not a mystery — it was news: empty‑train testing moved forward this year and the contractor consortium, LINXS, filed suit against LAWA in mid‑2026. Testing began in 2026 but passenger service remains hostage to litigation and reliability checks. LAWA insists safety and reliability come first. LINXS says contractual breaches and project changes caused delays. Neither side looks particularly squeaky‑clean in the public record.
Why Disneyland Isn’t the Benchmark
The Disneyland monorail comparison is clever but misleading. Theme‑park projects run on private land, a single owner’s schedule, and less regulatory and safety complexity. LAX’s SkyLink runs through a live, seismic airport, needs airport‑grade safety systems, ties into regional transit, and sits inside a complicated public‑private financing deal. Engineers and trade reporting point to systems integration and contractual governance failures as big drivers of delays — not just bad contractors or lazy workers.
Who’s Responsible — And What the Public Should Demand
Blame is shared. Elected officials and agency bosses set the rules. The private partner signed the deal. Contract language and dispute processes mattered, and the Grand Jury flagged a strained relationship between LAWA and LINXS. Conservatives can enjoy the theatrical takedown Marlow served up, but theater isn’t enough. Voters should demand clear audit reports, enforceable timelines, and tighter oversight of public‑private deals so taxpayers aren’t left with the bill for sloppy contracting. If government can throw public money at hyped programs, it can also demand hard answers and hard accountability.
SkyLink still might deliver useful service that cuts emissions and eases traffic. Or it might become another cautionary tale of big‑city procurement gone wrong. Either way, the people who fund it — taxpayers — deserve straight talk, tight accounting, and a timetable they can believe in. Mocking the project gets clicks. Fixing the process would actually save money.
