During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, a successful mobility plan included rented buses staged at designated park-n-ride lots that shuttled ticketed spectators to and from venues, reducing car trips that kept freeways free-flowing.
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For the 2028 L.A. Olympic and Paralympic games, LA Metro plans a similar approach. It needs to acquire 1,750 buses from across the country in addition to the 2,100 of their own, to handle an unprecedented 1 million extra transit trips per day during the games.
There’s just one big roadblock: They don’t have enough money to pull it off.
LA Metro has asked the federal government for $2 billion. But only $875 million passed in the House Appropriations Committee and it has not gone to the Senate. Also, President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2027 budget request didn’t include any L.A. Olympic transportation funding.
Congress did approve $94.3 million earlier this year, while helpful, it falls short of the need and members of Congress in Southern California said the White House has not indicated it would help grant the full, needed amount.
The White House responded Friday, saying it is in the early stages of talks with members of Congress and the L.A. Olympic organizing committee about transit funding.
“When Los Angeles took on the games, we were promised federal support. Unfortunately, at this point, we have a federal administration who has not provided the resources around mobility,” said Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Glendale.
Friedman, and four others from the Southern California congressional delegation, asked transportation leaders on Wednesday, Aug. 26 in a meeting in West Hollywood about their solutions for solving gridlock during the Olympic games, and what the members could do to help. “What I am most concerned about is if we don’t receive that additional funding,” she said.
The panel met just a few weeks before Congress must make a decision on the funding request. “There is still time but time is fast running out,” she said.
Without more federal help, LA Metro’s mobility plan won’t be fully implemented. That means less reliable public transportation, more congestion on roadways, freeways and at venues for visitors, spectators, athletes and also Angelenos during the Olympic Games, which run from July 14 to July 30, 2028, and the Paralympics, from Aug. 15 to Aug. 27.
“Visitors who will come here don’t have a car. They get off an airplane and probably don’t even have a driver’s license,” Friedman said. “They come from countries where public transportation is the norm.”
Metrolink, the six-county regional heavy-rail passenger service, agreed that the funding is crucial to help expand its services during the Olympics by operating trains more frequently on key lines.
It is already using a portion of the $94 million in federal funding received. Last month it awarded a construction contract for track and signal improvements on the San Bernardino Line that runs between SB County and Los Angeles, the agency reported.
“The project will support more frequent service during the 2028 Games and beyond, allowing trains to operate up to every 30 minutes in each direction. Federal funding will be essential to putting this additional service into operation,” wrote Paul Hubler, Metrolink chief strategy officer in an emailed response.
In an email, a Trump administration official said the White House is in the early stages on funding talks and has been meeting with Los Angeles officials, talking with members of Congress and meeting with the L.A. Olympic organizing committee “at the highest levels to discuss these issues.”
While the White House official did not specify Trump was committed to sending $2 billion to LA Metro, he said talks were ongoing.
The White House official added the Trump Administration “is actively doing its part to ensure the resources needed are secured to ensure this is the greatest Olympics in history.”
On Friday afternoon, Friedman responded:
“I welcome the White House’s commitment to working with local officials on the Olympic and Paralympic Games. But to make these Games a success, Los Angeles and the federal government need to be a united front, and that begins with supporting these investments. So far, the White House hasn’t included the critical federal investments for transit Los Angeles needs in their budget request,” she said.
Lessons from World Cup
LA Metro set up 15 park and ride hubs from the San Fernando Valley to Orange County, where ticket holders got on a bus shuttle taking them directly to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which hosted eight World Cup matches in June and July. The cost was $1.75 each way.
About 212,000 rides were taken on the special bus service, Friedman reported. The transit system in June received 2 million more riders than last year in June. No major security incidents occurred, LA Metro reported.
“All told, Metro delivered about 500,000 trips on Metro during the tournament, either to one of the eight matches at SoFi Stadium through our supplemental World Cup Games Enhanced Transit Service (what we call the World Cup GETS), or on our trains and buses to events and fan zones across the region,” wrote LA Metro’s Jennifer Vides, chief customer experience officer who was a panelist at the event.
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“The 2026 World Cup was the ultimate test run for the 2028 Olympics,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who attended the event.
Vides said the agency would build on the World Cup experience during the Olympics. “Scaling operations for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games presents a challenge 100 times more complex, spanning 49 venues and over 800 events,” she said, justifying the need for full federal funding.
Friedman agreed, calling LA Metro’s World Cup operations a pilot that needs to be greatly expanded in scope for the Olympics. “The World Cup proved that Los Angeles can deliver, but eight matches at one stadium over five weeks is not the same as sixteen days of events at dozens of venues across the region,” she said.
New since ’84: Rail and BRT lines
Since the 1984 Olympics, Los Angeles County has added six major rail lines and two busways that will connect people to venues directly, such as Crypto.com arena for gymnastics and boxing, and the L.A. Memorial Coliseum for track and field and co-host for the opening ceremony.
About 50 bus-only lanes now exist, Metro reported.
Rail lines and Bus Rapid Transit systems also can connect to Olympic bus transit hubs at rail or busway stations, enabling a one transfer ride without driving a car to a venue.
Other parts of LA Metro’s Games Enhanced Transit Service (GETS) include special lanes on freeways dedicated to spectators, athletes, media, and International Olympic Committee officials. Caltrans has committed to a Games Route Network, resembling carpool lanes for getting to venues, with overhead monitoring and striped lanes, according to LA Metro’s website detailing its mobility plans.
Besides not sitting in traffic, reduced congestion means less air pollution and fewer greenhouse gases. That’s important for athletes competing in Los Angeles, say clean air advocates.
“For the Olympics, we don’t want gridlock and we don’t want more smog inhibiting the health of athletes or spectators,” said Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition For Clean Air. “The L.A. region still has the worst air pollution in the country.”
Buses should be clean-energy buses, he said. LA Metro says it will use Compressed Natural Gas or electric buses. “There’s no question zero-emission buses with no tailpipe emissions would be best for the health of everyone in the region,” he said.
Trump approval in doubt
Some are concerned about Sean Duffy, secretary of transportation, not responding positively to more buses, bike lanes and less polluting modes of transportation during the Olympic games.
He referred to bike lanes as “woke,” then defunded the money for safer bike lane infrastructure, Magavern said.
“All of his policies have been directed toward increasing air pollution, that results in more congestion,” he said. “Duffy has been bad for public transit.”
Duffy did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Undaunted, Friedman will lobby Duffy for the $2 billion, she said. And as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House of Representatives, she’s also asking other California representatives to pressure Congress and the Trump Administration to act on the larger funding request.
Magavern said he wasn’t sure how President Trump would act, especially since he has been antagonistic toward California, cutting funding for healthcare and homeless services, and doesn’t seem to like Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“One one hand, Trump has done everything he can to take funding away from California, on the other hand, Trump loves a big sporting spectacle,” said Magovern. “He would not want the Olympics to be a failure. There are competing tendencies here.”
The White House official who responded in an email Friday, added: “Any notion that the White House is not doing enough to secure funding for the LA 2028 Olympics is simply false.”
Friedman said the Olympics belong to all of America, not just Los Angeles. And therefore, the federal government should fully support it.
“I hope the administration doesn’t try to hurt L.A. and hurt the Olympics. To risk the Olympics because you want to hurt California? I hope this president is not that petty,” Friedman said.
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