LA’s Plan for a ‘Car-Free’ 2028 Olympics Was Ridiculous Then and Even More Unlikely Now

In the years leading up to 2024 Olympic GamesParis Don’t waste time making the city more friendly to everyone.. It added more than 600 miles of bike lanes, planted 65,000 trees, created hundreds of pedestrian plazas, invested in light rail, and gave streets back to the people. The same year the International Olympic Committee selected Paris to host the 2024 Olympics, it also chose Los Angeles to host game in 2028. Even if it’s four years away, EQUAL Stay shownIt doesn’t look like LA will see similar major changes.

That’s not to say LA didn’t have big plans from the start. Former LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a deal with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to align their sustainability initiatives and pledged that the 2028 Olympics would be “car-free Olympics.” For anyone who’s spent much time in LA, that’s a laughable idea. Not just because the city is so dependent on cars, but because you quickly learn that politicians love to talk big, only to have things fall flat, get delayed, or get done half-way.

However, to successfully host the Olympics, LA must at least try. anything else. Security concerns mean that parking near the events will be severely limited, and attendees will likely have to make do without cars. Except in certain areas, that will be extremely difficult. So in 2018, the LA Metro board approved a plan called Twenty-Eight by ’28—28 transportation projects they plan to accelerate in preparation for the Games. The city was also awarded about $900 million in federal funds to carry out those projects.

Years later, however, only a handful of those projects have been completed. Some are still on track to be completed by 2028, but it’s impossible to know how many will actually be completed in the next four years. It’s worth noting that city officials have since started talking about the “transit-first game” instead of the “car-free game,” almost as if they’ve lost faith.

That said, it’s not over yet. Voters recently approved a ballot measure that directs LA officials to actually implement their own plans to install new bus and bike lanes. As City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky put it:

We are at a crossroads: We can seize this moment to show the world that a city built for cars can actually become bike and walk friendly, or miss out on a transformative legacy. For me, there is only one choice.

The Olympics must act as a catalyst for LA to move from a car-centric city to a multi-modal transportation model for the entire country, with permanent bike and bus lanes, safer intersections, and more green space. Previous host cities have seen the long-term benefits, and with the right support, we can do the same.

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