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≡ CITY TRANSPORT PLAN ≡
Almost two years after a City Council motion in 2024 to present a transportation plan for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Los Angeles City Department of Transportation (“LADOT”) filed an 11-page outline of its ideas last Tuesday.
Publicly posted on Friday, the document notes that the LADOT has a lead responsibility for “first mile-last mile” access to Games venues and for “Open Streets” programming within the City limits:
● First/Last Mile projects are slated for seven areas, most of which are in downtown Los Angeles, but also in eastern Hollywood and in Westwood, near the UCLA campus. All seven are in construction (1), final design (2) or the design phase (4). The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority provided $40.85 million for fund four of the projects.
● “Open Streets” programs “redefine typical uses of streets to create car-free spaces for people, typically on foot and using non-motorized wheeled devices such as bicycles and scooters. Open Streets have become an effective strategy in the global movement toward livable cities, promoting sustainable transportation, easing congestion, and enhancing public health, which is why they are a key transportation strategy for the 2028 Summer Games.”
Federal funding grants of $139 million for Los Angeles County and $6 million for the City to support such events for the 2026 FIFA World Cup period (3 locations) and in 2028 (6 locations). For 2028, the designated areas include downtown Los Angeles, North Hollywood, the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area and Hollywood.
The report identified further City efforts to help with transportation during the Games period:
● “Games Route Network” travel lanes with “specialized street signs and striping, traffic signal modifications, and optimized signal timing to prioritize GRN traffic” plus lane and parking modifications and parking enforcement.
● “Games Enhanced Transit Service” (GETS), the major spectator transit program, with LADOT involved in “designation of transit-only arterials, signal timing adjustments,
curbside management strategies, and, in some cases, a temporary rerouting of existing transit services.”
● Mobility Hubs to connect spectators and transportation to venues, primarily at 13 Metro stations and 85 additional “satellite hubs identified through a planning effort to support transit access goals.”
● Wayfinding and signage, for “signage, pavement markings, lighting, and other environmental elements – to support intuitive, multilingual navigation to venues and surrounding areas of interest such as cultural destinations, commercial districts, parks, and mobility hubs.”
● “Traffic Officers to patrol and enforce the major traffic corridors and collateral streets by issuing citations and impounding offending vehicles is essential to optimize the flow of traffic and remove vehicles that could pose a threat to public safety.” A request for $450,000 for equipment has been made for the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, for the 2027 NFL Super Bowl as well as the 2028 Games.
A request for 110 additional traffic officers and supervisors has also been requested and if not available, “LADOT will not be able to enforce parking violations during the 2028 Games events or respond to any non-Games related service requests.”
There was also a $7 million request for repairs to the City’s traffic signal system, which has been “degraded” due to continuing thefts of copper wire and significant deferred maintenance.
There are no immediate action items in the report; it is, for now, for information only in response to the requirement for a plan of action.
Observed: The report notes that there is no current impact to the City’s General Fund for the items listed in the report, but the question will be asked by the City Council members whether any of the listed action items are directly related to the 2028 Games and therefore eligible for reimbursement by the LA28 organizing committee. There clearly are some, notably wayfinding, traffic officers and added equipment.
While the plan is matter-of-fact – there isn’t a laugh in it – it underscores the reality that there is a considerable amount of coordination that has already taken place and more is coming. That’s good.
While the City does not have a formal, overall “plan” for the 2028 Games, individual departments have offered their own plans to the City Council, notably the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Bureau of Contract Administration and now the Department of Transportation. Other departments may also have programs in place, which have not yet been shared publicly.
Many of the programs listed in the LADOT report point not only to the 2028 Games, but shared efforts with Metro and other area transit agencies to realign public transit via the Games for 2029 and beyond. The question is whether they will work as planned, with some answers to come at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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