Can LA Achieve a ‘No-Car’ Olympics?

The city’s mayor promises all Olympic venues will be reachable by transit, but the city’s ability to finish its transit projects on time is coming into question.

1 minute read

August 14, 2024, 10:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


View looking down indoor concourse at Los Angeles Union Station with “To Union Station East” and “Passageway to Trains and Patsaouras Bus Plaza” signs.

FiledIMAGE / Adobe Stock

Los Angeles officials say the city is getting ready to host a ‘no-car’ Olympics, reports Jenna Fryer for the Associated Press.

Mayor Karen Bass says the city is working to expand and improve its public transit system, which will be the only way to access the Los Angeles Olympic venues in 2028. However, a recent report from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority reveals that the city is falling behind its transit plans in advance of the Games.

Among the plans for the event, the city plans to deploy a fleet of 3,000 buses and ask businesses to let employees work remotely to reduce traffic. Mayor Tom Bradley took similar steps during the 1984 Olympics, the last time Los Angeles hosted the games, asking businesses to stagger their workforces.

Mayor Bass also said the city is working to house the over 75,000 homeless Angelenos, but offered few details.

Saturday, August 10, 2024 in Associated Press

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

Overlapping highways

The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin

People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.

September 8, 2026 - Benjamin Schneider

The Hoover Dam blocking the Colorado River. The river's water level is noticeably low. The cliffs surrounding the blue water are brown and jagged.

US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico

A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.

September 11, 2026 - The Arizona Republic

Skyscrapers in Jersey City.

New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers

Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.

September 4, 2026 - The Cool Down

A New Jersey train approaches people waiting at the station.

Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds

A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.

September 15 - Mass Transit

A tall, gray power plant billows smoke into a blue sky.

EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants

Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.

September 15 - New York Times

A white RAPID bus. The lower half is light blue, and says RAPID in purple text. The bus is half visible, appearing from the left side of the image.

Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses

Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.

September 15 - KJZZ

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.