If you’ve been holding out hope for prepare service from Los Angeles to Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals this 12 months, you’ll have to wait — the long-awaited prepare service between Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley remains to be in the works.
In 2019, the California State Transportation Agency granted $5.9 million to assist fund a short lived prepare platform in Indio throughout the three April weekends of music festivals, with one other $2.9 million allotted from the Riverside County Transportation Commission. In early 2020, the Riverside County Transportation Commission informed The Desert Sun that plans weren’t finalized in time to present prepare service to the 2020 festivals — which have been later canceled anyway due to COVID-19.
If you’re a die-hard prepare fanatic (and an evening owl), you can nonetheless take the prepare —Amtrak’s Sunset Limited line arrives in Palm Springs from Los Angeles at 12:36 a.m. on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, and departs Palm Springs towards Los Angeles at 2:02 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Of course, you’d want to get a trip to and from the station in Palm Springs from the competition grounds in Indio, and also you’d have to depart proper after the finish of the performances Sunday or wait 48 hours.
RCTC is presently centered on bettering this prepare service with common journeys between Palm Springs and Los Angeles throughout the day, and year-round (not simply throughout competition season).
“Unfortunately, we had to cancel plans for a special event train, primarily due to the costs involved for providing service for three weekends. We have prioritized the completion of environmental approvals for regular train service to the Coachella Valley which would be operated by Amtrak,” Riverside County Transportation Commission Deputy Executive Director John Standiford informed The Desert Sun in an electronic mail. The company hopes to repurpose the California State Transportation Agency grant for that goal.
“Daily passenger rail service along the corridor would serve the area throughout the year as well as help provide a transportation option for major events,” Standiford wrote.
Until then, we’ve outlined your different options for getting from the LA-area to the Coachella Valley, and for getting to the festivals when you’re in the valley, under:
Take a shuttle
If you’re beginning your Coachella weekend with a flight into LAX, Valley Music Travel supplies a shuttle with choose up close to the airport and return service instantly to LAX, for $75 plus charges every manner. The shuttle is on the market to and from Coachella Camping, Renaissance Palm Springs, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, and La Quinta Resort & Club each weekends, with varied departure occasions from LAX on Thursday and Friday and return shuttles on Monday.
Once you’re in the Coachella Valley, Valley Music Travel additionally provides an “Any Line Shuttle Pass” for $84, which provides round-trip shuttle service from a list of over 20 hotels throughout the valley from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m. each show day. Return service from the festival ends 60 minutes after the music ends each night.
Hop on a bus
FlixBus still has seats available on its buses between Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley, with times available throughout the day and various departure locations including UCLA, USC, and downtown Los Angeles. Arrival locations in the Coachella Valley include downtown Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Indio, and bus tickets for Coachella Weekend One are currently priced around $49 each way.
Greyhound also offers bus service between Los Angeles and Indio — on Thursday, April 14, for example, Greyhound offers buses from Los Angeles to Indio at 2:30 a.m., 8:10 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 4:55 p.m. and 6:25 p.m., priced at $56. Trip times range from two hours and 40 minutes to three hours and 55 minutes. Tickets are also $56 for return trips from Indio on Monday, April 18, offered at 6:25 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:45 p.m., 1:55 p.m., 3:45 p.m., and 7:20 p.m.
Once you’re here, SunLine offers local bus service on nine routes throughout the Coachella Valley. Route 1 makes stops in Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella, with the closest stop to the Empire Polo Club at Highway 111 and Golf Center Parkway in Indio, about four miles from the festival grounds.
Walk or pedal
If you plan on walking or biking to the festival, pedestrian and bike access is available at these intersections:
- Avenue 50 & Madison
- Avenue 52 & Madison
- Avenue 49 & Monroe
- Avenue 52 & Monroe
Motorized scooters like Bird and Lime scooters are prohibited at Coachella.
Rideshare options
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft will operate at the rideshare stand at Ave. 49 and Monroe Street, from 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. Friday through Sunday. From the rideshare stand, take the “Yellow Path” to and from the competition. Shade and telephone charging can be out there at the rideshare stand whilst you wait. Expect longer-than-normal wait occasions, with the highest wait occasions anticipated between 12 a.m. and a couple of:30 a.m. every night time.
Uber is anticipating a major uptick in demand for rides, and is “increasing fares across the Palm Springs market during each weekend for the festival,” a spokesperson for Uber informed The Desert Sun. Uber is inserting a $20 particular occasion surcharge on getting picked up from the competition grounds from 10 p.m. till 3 a.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday — “100% of which goes to drivers,” in accordance to the spokesperson.
If festivalgoers aren’t comfy with the longer wait occasions or elevated pricing, they’ll choose to purchase one in every of the shuttle passes and take a shuttle to an offsite location, then request their Uber trip in an space that “may be less congested,” the spokesperson suggested.
Driving to the competition
If you’re driving to Empire Polo Club, Coachella has driving and parking directions out there on its web site, and advises arriving early to keep away from delays whereas parking.
Both free and most well-liked parking can be found from 10 a.m. till 2 a.m. Friday-Sunday.
If you are taking your electrical automotive to the competition, notice that there aren’t any EV charging stations out there on-site. Coachella has a listing of charging stations inside 30 miles out there right here.
Erin Rode covers the atmosphere for the Desert Sun. Reach her at erin.rode@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @RodeErin.