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≡ “BETTER THAN ZERO” ≡
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Executive Management Committee heard Thursday that the new U.S. House bill for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) includes $875 million to assist with transport services related to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Raffi Hamparian, Metro’s Director of Federal Affairs, explained:
“As all of you know, the Board has been a strong supporter of seeking Federal resources, beginning with our request to be in the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2027. And while that didn’t happen, the drumbeat that our Board and the CEO have done on Capitol Hill has been successful in securing these funds.
“Obviously, this is not the end of the story, because the Senate is going to adopt their own appropriations bill and we’re in touch with our Senators, Adam Schiff, and our senior Senator, Alex Padilla, to make sure that the final Fiscal Year 2027 bill has robust funding for the Olympics.”
The proposed grant is listed in the Federal Transit Administration section for the Federal fiscal year of 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, and specifies:
“$875,000,000 for transportation assistance, including assistance with transit planning, capital projects, relocation of vehicles, and operating assistance, for surface, commuter, and public transpor tation systems necessary to support the mobility needs of the international quadrennial Olympic and Paralympic events as authorized by section 1223(e)6 of Public Law 105–178.
“Provided, That such assistance shall be for any eligible entity as defined by section 6702(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, that serves or supports service to a venue that is related to the 2028 international quadrennial Olympic or Paralympic events: Provided further, That such planning, capital, and operating expenses are not required to be included in a transportation improvement program, long-range transportation, statewide transportation plan, statewide transportation improvement program, or a Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP).”
So this money, if it gets through the budgeting process and becomes law, will be focused on the 2028 Games, the first major funding provided by the U.S. Federal Government for transportation support for the Games. If approved, it would be the second Federal transportation grant related to the Games; a $94.3 million grant was included in the H.R. 7148 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, that was approved in February.
While helpful, the $875 million total is well short of Metro’s desire for about $2 billion in Federal assistance. Metro Board member Hilda Solis commented during the meeting:
“On the Federal level, $878 [sic] million for Olympics? I know, Raffi, it’s better than zero, as I was thinking we were going to get zero. We all know we had members of our Board, Mayor [Karen] Bass and [Supervisor] Kathleen Barger had discussions in the Administration about the Olympics. There was, I guess, the thought that we were going to get more support, or intervention by the Administration, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“While I’m happy that there’s something there, we do definitely need to get more.”
The report on a funding request of $379 million from the State of California related the Games is that the requests have been successful, but efforts are continuing.
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