With the next Olympic games set to take place in Los Angeles in 2028, questions are starting to be raised about exactly how the city of L.A. plans to execute this tremendous feat of coordination and precision-based cultivation. One of the earliest announcements regarding the Olympics and Paralympic games was from the L.A. Metro, which pledged to make the 2028 games car-free to assuage concerns about commuting issues for athletes and residents alike. But how will they accomplish that in a city known for its infamous gridlock, copious amounts of automobiles, and lack of a comprehensive public transport system? That’s what Metro board chair and Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn wants to know.
Metro’s Plan and Key Challenges
Hahn’s motion on transit preparations for the 2028 Games, presented to the board on Thursday, September 26, has already been postponed a full month. Instead, it will be heard before Metro’s Ad Hoc 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games Committee on October 23.
Hahn will ask the transit agency staff to move the needle on public transportation plans known as “enhanced service” for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the creation of well-thought-out plans in coordination with other transit agencies and the federal government. She’s also going to be asking how much it will cost to move hundreds of thousands of spectators to and from Olympic events when the games come to Southern California in less than four years.
Hahn, who chairs the Metro Olympics committee, will also be asking staff at the October meeting how many bus operators will be needed to drive the 4,000 rented buses the agency intends to use during the Olympics and how to best coordinate with other bus agencies in Southern California, including Metrolink, the six-county passenger rail service.
Federal Assistance and Statewide Collaboration
In conjunction with these extensive state-wide efforts, Hahn and fellow Metro board members are asking the federal government to help with transportation needs. “The Olympics are highlighting the United States of America in Los Angeles,” she said. “And we need help from our federal government.”
Last month, Karen Bass, Los Angeles Mayor and Metro board member, said public transportation would be the only way to access 800-plus events spread across 80 venues in Southern California during both events. The 2028 L.A. Olympic Games run from July 14 to July 30, 2028, and the Paralympic Games run from August 15 to August 27.
L.A. Metro plans to borrow 2,700 buses from transit agencies nationwide to augment its bus system, which currently contains more than 2,100 buses. Bass, after receiving the Olympic flag last month in Paris, the site of the most recent summer Olympics, said the city of L.A. and L.A. Metro will convince major employers to keep commuters off the roads by permitting them to work remotely during the time that the Games are playing out. “Part of having a no-car Olympics means getting people not to drive,” Bass told the press in August.
Learning from Paris and Global Coordination
On Thursday, Bass also confirmed the representatives of the mayor of Paris will be in Los Angeles in mid-October. Bass plans to take foundational building blocks from teams who have already completed the enormous task and build upon them. Paris is a similarly crowded metropolitan area and one that had to make its own unique alterations and concessions to house the Games. As such, Bass and L.A. officials are wise to convene with these Paris representatives so they can “grab any lessons learned from them.”
Third District Supervisor and Metro Board member Lindsey Horvath added that Metro must focus on coordination with other governmental entities. The city on its own is nowhere near equipped to deal with the tremendous hurdles of hosting the Games, but as a nation, we are. If the U.S. successfully rallies around L.A.’s efforts, things will go much better. “There is a need for urgency and coordination, and also for figuring out the best ways into and out of our (Olympic) venues,”
Regarding the Paralympic Games, Second District Supervisor and L.A. Metro board member Holly Mitchell said she wants representatives from the U.S. government at the October meeting. “For the Paralympics it is all about accessibility,” she added.
Los Angeles previously held the Olympics in 1932, 1984, and will in 2028. It is one of only three historical cities to host the Olympic games three times.
