The World Cup was an L.A. public transit success. The Olympics will be a much bigger test

By Colleen Shalby | Los Angeles Times (TNS)

LOS ANGELES — Two years from now, the Olympics will have just wrapped up with the Paralympics on the horizon. Spectators will know which countries dominated, what athletes made history and, perhaps the biggest question of all, how everyone handled the traffic.

Local leaders have pointed to the success of public transit in Los Angeles during the World Cup — a significant, albeit much smaller test run ahead of the 2028 Games — as a sign for what's to come. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, now Metro's chair, declared the city ready to host this massive undertaking. But years-long plans to prepare the sprawling county for hundreds of back-to-back events over several weeks are still far from complete.

"It's something that can be done very quickly. But the track record of the city of Los Angeles makes me strongly question their ability to do things quickly," said Juan Matute, deputy director of UCLA's Institute of Transportation Studies.

The World Cup was widely considered a success for public transit throughout the country. In Los Angeles, fans poured into Metro stations and onto buses to get to SoFi Stadium and watch parties and more than 212,000 rides were taken on the enhanced bus service, the agency said. During the Iran vs. New Zealand game, for example, Metro said rides on the K Line and C Line — those closest to SoFi Stadium — were up 41% and 23% respectively compared to a typical Monday.

At a recent state of the agency address, Metro Chief Executive Stephanie Wiggins touted Metro's World Cup numbers. There were zero security incidents during the games, Wiggins said, and June ridership was over 26 million total, up 2.4 million from last June. She credited the spike largely to World Cup travel and the much-anticipated opening of several D Line stations along Wilshire Boulevard, but June 2025 was also the agency's lowest June on record since 2022. The drop of more than 3.7 million boardings last year was due in part to the immigration sweeps that began at the beginning of the month, so numbers were expected to be higher this year.

"Now we've got to continue to push forward as we tackle the challenges ahead," Wiggins said. "This next chapter won't ask us to choose between delivering major projects, preparing for global events, and improving everyday service. No, it will ask us to do all three at the same time."

Los Angeles hosted eight matches intermittently for over a month during the World Cup. By comparison, hundreds of events will take place during the 16-day Olympic Games, which is often compared to the equivalent of seven daily Super Bowls. Every day, multiple venues in different cities will host games as millions of people visit the region.

More than 4 million tickets were sold during the first Olympics ticket drop and LA28 recently announced that more than 12 million people from more than 200 countries registered for the next. Metro has estimated that 1 million more rides per day will be taken, more than doubling ridership.

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During the World Cup, Metro expanded its bus services to deliver tens of thousands of people to each match at SoFi Stadium. The goal to prevent a traffic meltdown during the Olympics relies heavily on an even greater operation. Metro plans to lease 1,700 additional buses on top of its existing fleet of 2,400 from outside states and agencies and has requested $2 billion from the federal government for the effort. The agency has acquired about half of the buses and some funding. Earlier this year, Congress approved $94.3 million for Olympics and Paralympics and the House Appropriations Committee recently approved $875 million more to fund public transportation for the games. That funding still needs approval from Congress.

"They haven't found all the buses they need. And because of the competition for buses in the summer of 2028, I'm not sure they are going to find them," Matute said, pointing out that it's not just Metro that will need to shuttle people. Buses will also be needed to move athletes, dignitaries, media and others as well.

In addition to the need for buses, drivers and updated bus lanes is parking. Metro leaders and transit experts expect that many of those who intend to ride on public transit will still need to drive to a pickup location, and security parameters at venues will likely add another obstacle to parking on site. Possible cuts to Metrolink's budget could also affect transit for spectators planning to visit L.A. from surrounding counties.

Despite obstacles, Eli Lipmen of the public transit advocacy group MoveLA is optimistic that Metro can pull it off in time.

"The things that they've learned from this test scenario with all the security around the World Cup really gives me confidence in the CEO and in the staff to execute on this," Lipmen said. "They were able to see the operational challenges in person with moving all those people to venues and how to do it well and how to do it right."

In light of ongoing challenges, Genevieve Giuliano, a professor in USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy, said that other solutions could emerge to help reduce traffic on the road and demand on public transit. Carpool and rideshare could become more prevalent options, she said. Or, as was the case during the 1984 Olympics, residents may flee the area and in-person workplaces may consider allowing for more remote work or off-hour days.

"We're not talking about layering millions of people on what the system is already doing. We're going to be overlaying that on something different and something that is less than what we experience in a normal situation," Giuliano said. "In my view, there's a high probability that the demand on the system will be much lower than usual."

Metro has completed 11 of its 28 projects slated ahead of the Olympics to ease traffic and beef up transit. Some of those projects, including improvements and expansions to bus routes are still in the design phase. Transit experts believe that Metro can push through on several outstanding plans, but question the ability to implement plans that will stick beyond the games.

Joshua Schank, a partner with InfraStrategies, a transportation strategic advisory firm, and former chief innovation officer of Metro, sees the success around the World Cup as proof that Los Angeles can "put the resources necessary behind transportation to deliver for major events" but wonders what type of permanent plan that will lead to.

"The question is: Can we translate that short-term capability of delivering for these events into something that for the long term delivers for the people who live here?"

Bass, who once said Los Angeles would host a car-free Olympics before leaders shifted messaging to a "transit-first" games," said during Metro's state of the agency that the plans ahead would last beyond 2028.

"This is a rare moment, and I intend for us to meet it and to build something that lasts long after the world stops watching," said Bass.

But the mayor, who is in the middle of an election year, may not be the one in charge during the Olympics. The city's leader controls four votes on the Metro board, which means that those who hold power to implement plans could look different in 2028.

"Traditionally, these big changes are something that you grant to the next mayor because you don't want to necessarily encumber them," Matute said. "And so there's politics at play too."

Ultimately, it's those promises to taxpayers that could most affect the outcome of how L.A. fares.

"The price of failure is very high. The entire world is watching," Giuliano said. "And so, if you are the mayor of L.A., if you're a member of the Board of Supervisors, if you're the CEO of L.A. Metro, etc. — there's a lot riding on this. So that is a very good motivator for people to cooperate and for people to make decisions."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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