In brief
Three operators cover a visitor’s Long Beach in 2026: Metro’s A Line light rail at $1.75 a ride, Long Beach Transit’s buses at $1.25, and the free Passport, now route 37, which runs Friday to Sunday only. The regular water taxis ended for the season on September 7, 2026 and return in 2027, and the AquaBus is out of service until further notice.
- A Line fare: “$1.75”, with a daily cap of $5 and a weekly cap of $18; the tourism bureau’s $1.25 is Long Beach Transit’s bus fare, not Metro’s19.
- A Line service: the printed weekday table shows departures from Downtown Long Beach about every 8 to 12 minutes for most of the day, less often before 5:42 a.m. and after 8:47 p.m., and 66 minutes from Downtown Long Beach to Union Station2.
- Passport: route 37, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, timetable effective August 23, 2026, about every 30 minutes, four stops from 10th & Pine to Queen Mary / Cruise Terminal3.
- Long Beach Transit buses: $1.25 single ride, $4 day pass, and no transfers within its own service area4.
- Water taxis: “Regular service will return in 2027”; a $12 round-trip concert-day service continues through 20265.
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Older pages still describe a Long Beach that no longer exists: a Blue Line, a Passport that runs every 15 minutes, water taxis in service. This page sets out what the operators publish as of October 2026, using Metro’s A Line timetable, Long Beach Transit’s fare and Passport pages and its water taxi page. How the buses and trains connect to the cruise terminal, the airport and the ferry is in the section pillar, Getting In and Out of Long Beach.
The short answer
| If you are… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Riding the A Line to or from Los Angeles | Pay $1.75 with a tap; three rides in a day cost at most $51 |
| Going between downtown and the Queen Mary | Take Passport route 37, Friday to Sunday only; it is free37 |
| Taking a Long Beach Transit bus | $1.25 a ride; a day pass is $44 |
| Planning a water taxi | Regular service is over until 2027; only concert-day service runs5 |
| Relying on an older page that says “every 15 minutes” | The current Passport table is about every 30 minutes3 |
| Needing help on the day | Long Beach Transit Customer Care: 562.591.23014 |
Metro A Line: stations and service
Metro’s timetable, effective June 7, 2026, lists the line as “Pomona – Long Beach”, and the south end of its station list, in order, is Del Amo, Wardlow, Willow St, Pacific Coast Hwy, Anaheim St, 5th St, 1st St, Pacific Av and Downtown Long Beach2. Its timepoint table groups Willow St and Downtown Long Beach under “Long Beach” and notes that some trips begin at Wardlow Station2. Metro’s route map lists Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, City Place, The Pike at Rainbow Harbor, the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, the Aquarium of the Pacific, Shoreline Park and Shoreline Village among its points of interest; it does not say which station serves which2. The timetable does not give a walking time from any station.
What the printed weekday table shows for northbound trips from Downtown Long Beach2:
| Measure | Monday to Friday | Saturday, Sunday and holidays |
|---|---|---|
| First departure | 4:08 a.m. | 4:08 a.m. |
| Spacing | About every 8 to 12 minutes from about 5:42 a.m. to 8:47 p.m. | About every 10 minutes from 6:32 a.m. to 7:12 p.m. |
| Late evening | Every 20 minutes after 8:47 p.m. | Every 20 minutes after about 7:47 p.m. |
| Last departure | 11:07 p.m. | 11:07 p.m. |
| Downtown Long Beach to Union Station | 66 minutes (for example, 10:12 a.m. to 11:18 a.m.) | 66 minutes (4:08 a.m. to 5:14 a.m.) |
Source:2. Times are Metro’s “Approximate Times”. The table also warns: “All Rail Lines after 8pm are subject to Service Delays for systemwide maintenance.” The map marks Union Station as the connection to Amtrak, Metrolink and the LAX FlyAway2.
The A Line fare
Metro’s fare page gives the regular one-way fare as “$1.75” and the caps in its own words: “Pay for 3 rides in one day. Ride free after that. Never pay more than $5.” A weekly cap is “Never pay more than $18”. “Transfers are free within 2 hours when you tap to ride – roundtrips not included”, and “Children under age 6 may ride for free with a fare-paying adult”1.
What you may have heard The tourism bureau’s parking guide lists the A Line single fare as $1.259. Metro’s own page says $1.751. The $1.25 figure is Long Beach Transit’s bus fare, so plan on $1.75 per A Line ride14.
Passport, route 37
The Passport is Long Beach Transit’s downtown bus, and its page is titled “LBT Passport Schedule | Free Downtown Long Beach Bus”7. Since the timetable effective August 23, 2026 it is route 37 and runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday3. The Saturday table is also marked as effective on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 18, 20273.
Southbound, it makes four stops; northbound, the same four in reverse3:
| Stop | Stop name on the timetable | Example, Friday southbound |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10th & Pine | 10:20 |
| 2 | Long Beach Blvd & 1st | 10:26 |
| 3 | Shoreline & Village | 10:31 |
| 4 | Queen Mary / Cruise Terminal | 10:40 |
Source:3. Northbound the stops read Queen Mary / Cruise Terminal, Shoreline & Village, Long Beach Blvd & 1st, 10th & Pine; the 10:10 departure from the Queen Mary reaches 10th & Pine at 10:343.
Spacing on the printed table is about 30 minutes for most of the day (8:21, 8:51, 9:20, 9:50 and so on southbound), with about an hour between the first two Friday southbound trips and between the last two; the first southbound trip leaves 10th & Pine at 6:26 and the last arriving at the Queen Mary at 11:10; the table prints no a.m. or p.m. marks3. Friday, Saturday and Sunday tables differ by a minute or two, not in pattern.
Official pages disagree The tourism bureau’s transit page describes the Passport with 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. service about every 15 minutes, and the Aquarium of the Pacific’s transit page promises buses “every 8-12 minutes”810. Long Beach Transit’s current timetable shows route 37 at about every 30 minutes, three days a week3. Plan around the timetable.
The route lists no stop named for the Aquarium or the Pike; the table’s third stop is Shoreline & Village, and the timetable does not give a distance to either3. The Queen Mary end is covered in The Queen Mary in 2026.
Long Beach Transit buses
Fares on Long Beach Transit’s fares page4:
| Fare | Price |
|---|---|
| Regular single ride | $1.25 |
| Day pass | $4 |
| 5-day pass | $18 |
| 30-day pass | $65 |
| Children 0-4 | Free |
| Senior (62+) single ride | $0.60 |
| Senior or disabled day pass | $2.50 |
Source:4. As of October 2026.
You can pay with exact change ($1.25), a TAP card, the TAP app, or a tap of a debit or credit card or a phone wallet on board4. The page is explicit about transfers: “LBT does not offer transfers within the LBT service area. Each ride is $1.25.” Interagency transfers on TAP stored value cost $0.50, including from LBT to Metro Bus4. GoPass and other fare products “are not accepted on the LBT Water Taxis”4.
Long Beach Airport’s own page lists Long Beach Transit routes 102, 104, 111 and 405 among its ground transportation11. The airport and the cruise terminal are covered in Long Beach Airport for Visitors.
Water taxis: regular service returns in 2027
Long Beach Transit’s water taxi page says: “Water Taxi regular service has ended for the season.” The summer 2026 AquaLink schedule ran daily from May 22 to Labor Day, September 7, 2026, with stops including Alamitos Bay Landing Berth 3, the Queen Mary and Aquarium Dock 456. The page continues: “Regular service will return in 2027”, and “AquaBus will be out of service until further notice”5.
What does run is special service on F&M Bank Amphitheater concert days “through 2026”, between Aquarium Dock 4 and the Queen Mary at $12 round trip. Payment is “Contactless payments only (credit/debit card) or TAP card with stored value only. No cash.” Boarding is “first come, first board”, and the first listed date is Sunday, October 4, 20265.
What you may have heard The tourism bureau’s transit page frames both water taxis as summer service (“During the summer, Long Beach Transit offers two water taxis”), with the AquaLink at $5 and the AquaBus at $1, and does not say that regular service has ended8. Long Beach Transit, the operator, says regular service has ended for the season5.
Also listed, with a label
The tourism bureau, Visit Long Beach, lists a free Circuit shuttle (Belmont Shore, Downtown and Alamitos Beach, on demand through an app) and Long Beach BikeShare and e-scooter operators under the city’s micromobility program8. Those are the bureau’s own listings; the hours it gives for the Circuit are undated, and the tourism bureau’s listing is the only source here for the hours. For a car-free itinerary using these pieces, see Long Beach Without a Car.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the Metro A Line from Long Beach?
$1.75 for a regular one-way ride, with a $5 daily cap and an $18 weekly cap, according to Metro1.
Is the Passport free in Long Beach?
How often does the Passport run?
What stations does the A Line have in Long Beach?
Metro’s list runs Wardlow, Willow St, Pacific Coast Hwy, Anaheim St, 5th St, 1st St, Pacific Av and Downtown Long Beach, the last stop2.
Are the Long Beach water taxis running?
Not on the regular schedule: service ended for the 2026 season and returns in 2027. A $12 round-trip concert-day service continues through 20265.
How much is a Long Beach Transit bus?
$1.25 a ride or $4 for a day pass, with no transfers within the Long Beach Transit service area4.
How long does the A Line take from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles?
The printed weekday table shows 66 minutes from Downtown Long Beach to Union Station2.
Related Articles
Sources
- Fares — Los Angeles Metro. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- A Line timetable and route map, effective June 7, 2026 — Los Angeles Metro. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Passport timetable, route 37, effective August 23, 2026 — Long Beach Transit. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Fares — Long Beach Transit. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Water Taxis — Long Beach Transit. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Water Taxi Summer Schedule 2026 — Long Beach Transit. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Passport — Long Beach Transit. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Public Transit — Visit Long Beach, the tourism bureau (its own listings). Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Long Beach Parking Pro Tips — Visit Long Beach, the tourism bureau (its own statement). Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Public Transit — Aquarium of the Pacific. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Long Beach Airport ground transportation — City of Long Beach. Accessed 2026-10-01.