Will LA’s Transit Plan Cross the Finish Line Ahead of 2028 Summer Olympics?

As the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris enters its final days, some are turning their attention to the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and the status of preparations. Five years ago, the city announced an ambitious plan to complete “28 by 28” transit projects to facilitate the movement of the more than one million visitors the Games will bring. But, despite recent influxes of cash, including $900 million in infrastructure funding and a $77 million grant to electrify its bus fleet, it’s looking like LA will fall short of its goal by 10 of the 28 projects, according to a recent article from NBC 4 News out of Southern California.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s latest report shows that of the 28 projects, only three have been completed, seven are currently under construction, and the final ten are expected to be finished after 2028. The reason? Delays, rising costs, and a funding gap of millions of dollars, which the city is depending on existing city resources as well as state and funeral funding to fill, as it has promised no additional taxes on residents.

“Despite the delays, [Metro] officials are hopeful that the transit system improvements will eventually meet the needs of the city and its residents,” writes NBC Reporter Lolita Lopez. But the skepticism expressed by many in 2017 when the city was first selected to host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games remains. The doubters fear that instead of coming out of the Games ahead, both economically and with improved infrastructure, as promised, the event will result in a financial disaster like it has for past host cities, including Tokyo’s $7.2 billion loss in 2020.

Update (8/21/2024): Interim LA Metro Communication Director Missy Colman emailed Planetizen with the following correction, which differs from the numbers and dates reported in the NBC Los Angeles article summarized above: "Of the 28 projects in the recently prioritized Twenty-eight by ’28 plan, (5) are complete, (3) are expected to open before the end of 2024, 5 are scheduled to open in 2025, 3 are scheduled to open in 2026, 8 are slated for 2027 and the remaining 4 will open in 2028, prior to the Olympics."