L.A. politicians ask Trump for $3.2 billion to pay for Olympic transportation projects

L.A. mayor Karen Bass holds up the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics

Staff Writer

Nov. 27, 2024 3 AM PT

Los Angeles transit officials are asking President-elect Donald Trump to dedicate $3.2 billion to fund transportation projects for “the largest and most spectacular sporting event held in American history” — the 2028 Olympics.

Appealing to Trump’s penchant for superlatives, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board made up largely of local politicians, including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, sent a letter Thursday to the incoming president calling on his administration to set aside the funds in his 2026 federal budget.

“With 10 [million] to 15 million ticketholders projected, these Games will be the largest sporting event held in our Nation’s history,” the letter states. “Effectively delivering a safe, secure, efficient, and accessible mobility system to support these games will require the full support of the Federal Government’’

The Trump transition team has yet to respond, according to Metro, and did not reply to requests from The Times. Local officials are waiting to see how willing Trump is to support the 2028 Olympics in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has been attempting to be a foil to his incoming administration.

Most of Metro’s requests for funding from the Biden Administration were knocked down. Inside the agency, officials are worried that they are running out of time and money to prepare for the Games. And with many of the Olympic venues still not chosen, some are wondering whether a new administration may influence the selection.

“This isn’t just the L.A. Olympics — it is our entire nation’s Olympics. I would think that President-elect Trump would want to make sure they are a success and reflect well on our country,” said County Supervisor Janice Hahn, the Metro board chair.

Last month, she called for a fresh Olympic transportation plan that includes staffing levels, total estimated cost and a coordination strategy across the region. So far it has not materialized.

Supervisor and board member Kathryn Barger, a Republican, said she is hopeful that the new administration will work with Metro to get the needed transportation projects in place.

“Every administration is going to have different nuances, but if you don’t work with them, then you are setting yourself up for failure,” she said.

The letter sent out last week requests Trump assign senior members of the Department of Transportation to work with the agency and appoint a White House-based coordinator to help make the “2028 Games a successful transportation showcase for the nation.”

Metro transit planners and politicians had been hoping to use the Olympics to accomplish a long wish list of projects, including miles of bus lanes along Venice Boulevard across the city and Atlantic Boulevard in East Los Angeles, 40 bike share stations in South Los Angeles and “mobility hubs” with Wi-Fi and concessions where shuttles can take fans to venues.

Among the list of 10 projects that Metro is asking to be funded, the most expensive is a $2-billion request to pay for an estimated 2,700 buses — double its current fleet — that the region is projected to need to move the millions of spectators expected to attend the Games. None of the projects have yet to be funded.

The private LA28 organizing committee has a $6.9-billion budget, which will largely pay for orchestrating the Games, securing venues, and ensuring that athletes and workers are housed and transported.

But that won’t cover Metro’s costs to significantly beef up public transit. The agency is looking to the federal government to fund the creation of a network of fast lanes that would carry athletes and others involved in the Games, the bulk of which would run along freeways.

“It’s going to be an extremely hard sell,” said John Rennie Short, author of “Hosting the Olympic Games, the Real Cost for Cities.” “It’s California and Los Angeles — which is not a Trump stronghold.”

It’s a tough pitch to Republicans in general, who don’t normally support building up mass transit and will not feel inclined to help the liberal city, Short said.

The Games were first pushed by Bass as a “car-free” event, largely because private vehicles will not be allowed at many of the venue parking lots because of tight security and perimeters around the Games. But the rhetoric has been toned down to a “transit-first” event, none of which was mentioned in the letter.

Signed by the Metro board members, the letter states the federal government provided the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games $1.3 billion and Atlanta 1996 Olympic Summer Games $609 million.

“There is going to be congressional representatives from other parts of the country, who say they wanted the Games, they applied for the Games and now they are asking for federal help,” Short said. “On the other hand, this is a big shiny global event.”

Metro officials, he said, were right to emphasize that Trump, if he follows tradition, will attend and play a role whether the administration gives money or not.

During his last term, Trump met with Olympic organizers in Beverly Hills to pledge the federal government’s support for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“It’s going to be a fantastic show,” Trump said in 2020. He also joked that organizers needed to “remember him” when 2028 came around.

Dakota Smith contributed to this report.