Los Angeles transit officials are asking President-elect Donald Trump to dedicate $3.2 billion to fund transportation projects for “the largest and most spectacular sporting event held in American history” — the 2028 Olympics.
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Appealing to Trump’s penchant for superlatives, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board made up largely of local politicians, including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, sent a letter Thursday to the incoming president calling on his administration to set aside the funds in his 2026 federal budget.
“With 10 [million] to 15 million ticketholders projected, these Games will be the largest sporting event held in our Nation’s history,” the letter states. “Effectively delivering a safe, secure, efficient, and accessible mobility system to support these games will require the full support of the Federal Government’’
The Trump transition team has yet to respond, according to Metro, and did not reply to requests from The Times. Local officials are waiting to see how willing Trump is to support the 2028 Olympics in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has been attempting to be a foil to his incoming administration.
Most of Metro’s requests for funding from the Biden Administration were knocked down. Inside the agency, officials are worried that they are running out of time and money to prepare for the Games. And with many of the Olympic venues still not chosen, some are wondering whether a new administration may influence the selection.
“This isn’t just the L.A. Olympics — it is our entire nation’s Olympics. I would think that President-elect Trump would want to make sure they are a success and reflect well on our country,” said County Supervisor Janice Hahn, the Metro board chair.
Last month, she called for a fresh Olympic transportation plan that includes staffing levels, total estimated cost and a coordination strategy across the region. So far it has not materialized.
Supervisor and board member Kathryn Barger, a Republican, said she is hopeful that the new administration will work with Metro to get the needed transportation projects in place.
“Every administration is going to have different nuances, but if you don’t work with them, then you are setting yourself up for failure,” she said.
The letter sent out last week requests Trump assign senior members of the Department of Transportation to work with the agency and appoint a White House-based coordinator to help make the “2028 Games a successful transportation showcase for the nation.”
Metro transit planners and politicians had been hoping to use the Olympics to accomplish a long wish list of projects, including miles of bus lanes along Venice Boulevard across the city and Atlantic Boulevard in East Los Angeles, 40 bike share stations in South Los Angeles and “mobility hubs” with Wi-Fi and concessions where shuttles can take fans to venues.
Among the list of 10 projects that Metro is asking to be funded, the most expensive is a $2-billion request to pay for an estimated 2,700 buses — double its current fleet — that the region is projected to need to move the millions of spectators expected to attend the Games. None of the projects have yet to be funded.
The private LA28 organizing committee has a $6.9-billion budget, which will largely pay for orchestrating the Games, securing venues, and ensuring that athletes and workers are housed and transported.
But that won’t cover Metro’s costs to significantly beef up public transit. The agency is looking to the federal government to fund the creation of a network of fast lanes that would carry athletes and others involved in the Games, the bulk of which would run along freeways.
“It’s going to be an extremely hard sell,” said John Rennie Short, author of “Hosting the Olympic Games, the Real Cost for Cities.” “It’s California and Los Angeles — which is not a Trump stronghold.”
Not a penny as long as LA is a sanctuary city. Not one red cent.
This is a fantasy that Calif. has failed to attain for almost 4 decades.
It was the Mayor of LA that stated she wanted the Biden administration and its failed transportation policies to pay for this.
It is a plan to have the State of California, that does not have money to spend, to get the Federal Government to bail them out of another failure, this time in Southern California.
Reminder Senator Scott Weiner (Calif) stated in April of 2023 on Los Angeles media that Mass Transit in California was completely broken. He spoke for the Governors office and as an attempt to get a failed Federal plan to bail out a failed State of California transportation plan.
Cars Are Basic, Inc. has tried to educated the public. Now the reality of a location (Los Angeles) does not have either the money or a rational plan to make the Olympics work.
Welcome to the failure in transportation for the last 4 decades.
Want more information and help contact CarsAreBasic.org