By Chris Tyler, Communications Manager
May 23, 2025
On Monday, May 19, members of SAJE’s fareless transit campaign team attended the UCLA Los Angeles Transportation Forum 2025, organized by UCLA’s Institute for Transportation Sciences and hosted by the California Endowment. Subtitled “Mega Events, Mega Opportunities,” the convening focused largely on the impending 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games and the financial and logistical pressures local transportation agencies face as a result. Speakers identified several challenges to meeting ambitious project deadlines attached to the Olympics, including a lack of funds, capacity, stakeholder consensus, and time. “Business as usual” politics also came under fire, with several participants citing a desire to streamline and exempt key projects from typical permitting and review processes in order to get the job done.
But nothing weighed as heavy on anyone’s mind as the $3.2 billion in federal funding LA Metro requested from the Trump Administration last fall. Because buses can provide “efficient, scalable, and flexible transportation” solutions that maintain venue security in line with exacting Department of Homeland Security protocols required by the games, they are the essential component of the city’s broader transportation plan for 2028. Over 5,000 buses will be needed in order to successfully serve the needs of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics, but LA Metro’s current fleet caps out at less than half of that, at 2,400 buses total. This means 2,700 loaner buses and operating personnel will need to be rented from municipalities around the country at the cost of $2 billion—almost two-thirds of the total federal funds requested.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Trump administration is leaving us on read about the request. Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation released a memo stating that transit funding would be prioritized in areas with high marriage and birth rates, and where vaccines are not mandated (i.e., not Southern California). And, it’s possible that the current administration will use this as an opportunity to fiscally punish L.A. for its “sanctuary city” commitment that promises, in theory, city resources will not be used to enforce federal immigration laws.
As of now, civic leaders don’t seem to be confronting the possibility that federal funding for Olympic Games infrastructure may be withheld—either permanently, or at least until concessions are made that further harm Los Angeles residents. As Daniel Rodman, director of international events for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, shared, “it’s not a question of whether or not we pull this off. It’s a question of how much pain it will require.”
If federal funds don’t come through, L.A.’s transportation infrastructure will not be able to meet the needs of the 2028 games. This may force organizers to reduce the number of tickets sold per event, resulting in less revenue generated—revenue L.A. taxpayers are counting so that there are no cost overages to cover. And, with not enough buses, the more than one million people expected to ride LA Metro each day will endure crowded slogs between venues, fan zones, and hotels and work, school, and home. Community groups like NOlympics (a coalition of which SAJE is a member) have been warning about this possibility for years and its potential to jeopardize the wellbeing of L.A.’s unhoused and working-class residents, who make up the majority of LA Metro’s ridership.
With so much emphasis on the future (and futuristic) possibilities that the Olympic Games might unlock, many at UCLA’s transportation forum seemed eager to overlook the reality people will face on ground—especially those living in communities disproportionately impacted by the localized speculation, surveillance, and state violence the Olympic Games have already made possible.
While advocates and lobbyists call for a “transit-first” Olympics, we at SAJE will continue to advocate for a community-first transit system that centers the needs of everyday Angelenos, every day. If you’re interested in learning more about our ongoing transit campaign and joining the fight for a fareless Metro, email cgonzalez@SAJE.net.
