Want an up-close look at a key economic indicator for Los Angeles and the larger Southern California region?

Take a walk through the terminals at Los Angeles International Airport or drive over the bridges that link our local ports.

The crowds of people and planes, vessels and trucks tell the story of a prospering region.

The numbers bear it out.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach both had the busiest May on record, with cargo volumes up 1.2 percent from a year earlier at Long Beach and up 3.4 percent at Los Angeles, which already was coming off a record 2016.

LAX, meanwhile, hit a new high in passenger volume last year, topping 80 million for the first time with 80.9 million people. It also maintained its role as the busiest origin-and-destination airport in the nation, with 52.8 million residents or visitors using LAX.

We tend to think of Los Angeles as a carcentric city, but airline and ship traffic are key indicators of the region’s economic health. Each represents essential local industries.

The airport is a barometer for local tourism and hospitality, which supports retailers, restaurants, theme parks, hotels and more. Vibrancy at the ports lifts associated trade and logistics industries, producing almost 800,000 jobs in the five-county Southern California region.

The impact of the recession, when airline passenger numbers plummeted to about two-thirds of what they are today and merchant ships devoid of cargo dawdled off the coast, has been left in the wake. So, too, have more recent obstacles, such as the bankruptcy of the Port of Long Beach’s largest carrier, Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd., which stymied operations last year.

Challenges remain at each of the municipally owned facilities.

LAX is a victim of its own success in some ways, crowded and in some aspects outdated and struggling to adapt to ever-greater demand. But it’s on the job, undertaking billions of dollars in terminal and access renovations, a consolidated car rentals facility, new rail stops, and a people mover to connect it all.

The ports, likewise, have been planning for the future.

Long Beach has expanded its Middle Harbor and is building a taller bridge to accommodate increasingly popular megaships, while the Port of Los Angeles launched a pilot program to create a consolidated cargo database to improve efficiency.

There’s never any guarantee of smooth sailing or clear skies in the competitive world of the global marketplace, but L.A.’s biggest pieces of commercial transportation infrastructure look to be on course for the future.