Games fever is among us. With the games in full swing, Paris is bustling with over 11 million visitors permeating its streets. But how is everyone moving whether for daily necessity or to access the Games? Planners and engineers have been working for years to perfect this preparation. Meanwhile, across the globe in Los Angeles, preparations are already in high gear for the 2028 Summer Games.

Game-Changers Since the 80’s

The Games

• Increased Participation: The 2028 Games will host athletes from 206 countries (up from 140 in 1984), competing in over 800 events across 50+ sports (up from 221 and 21 respectively).^3,4
• Transportation Demand: An estimated 2,700 buses will be required to move spectators, athletes, media,⁵ compared to 550 in 1984.

Southern California has grown by nearly six million residents since 1984, reaching 18.3 million today. Over 70% of this growth occurred outside Los Angeles in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, significantly increasing the spread of the population and the demand on the transportation network as residents travel longer distances. Managing the corresponding increase in travel during the 2028 Games – whether directly related to the formal events or not – requires a creative, strategic approach.

As the population in Southern California has grown since 1984, the regional transportation system has also grown.

Strategies for Success:

• Maximize Existing Transit Investments: To accommodate the 2028 Games, cities must enhance connections between venues, tourist hubs, and major transit stations with first/last mile improvements and complete streets treatments. Key improvements include Metrolink enhancements through the SCORE program, speed and safety improvements on the Metro G Line, the Metro D Line extension to Westwood, and new transit connections to LAX.
• Prioritize Customer Experience: Focusing on customer experience, wayfinding, and safety will benefit both existing and new riders across the expanded system. Metro’s Mobility Concept Plan is designed to meet these needs based on a rider’s familiarity with transit and using Metro’s system. is designed to meet these needs based on a rider’s familiarity with transit and using Metro’s system.
• Invest in Community Partnerships: Work with local jurisdictions, community organizations, and transit riders to build support for accelerating project delivery that will leave legacy benefits long beyond 2028.
• Adjust Policies: Consider how to adapt policies for large event hosting and rapid infrastructure growth. Metro’s CX Action Plan and progress tracking account for over 100 miles of new rail lines and dedicated transit rights-of-way added to support games-related travel.
• Accelerate Existing Plans & Project Lists: Cities can use existing plans and policies to guide traffic control, multimodal access, and demand management. The City of LA’s Olympic Legacy Streets Project (also includes Paralympics) is a prime example, as well as Long Beach’s plans to accelerate planned projects.
• Deploy Temporary-to-Permanent: Collaborate and streamline processes to implement temporary-to-permanent projects that will address the immediate multimodal needs during the ’28 Games that transition smoothly to permanent multimodal improvements that may take longer to design and implement.

Tourism

Strategies for Success:

• Leveraging Emerging Technologies: New technologies offer alternatives to driving. Accessing transit information through partnerships with vendors and mobile apps will be crucial during the games. Similar to the 1984 Olympics, where over 30% of businesses changed their delivery patterns to reduce congestion¹⁴, jurisdictions can explore time-of-day policies with e-commerce providers and local businesses. Planning for micromobility, autonomous vehicles, and new modes like urban air mobility should all be considered. While some venues have robust TNC and transit access protocols in place, many do not, and new security and access controls during the Games represent an opportunity to update visitor access strategies and apply promising tech innovations.
• Evaluating and Applying New Data Sources: Tools and resources like the LADOT Transportation Technology Strategy partnership evaluation rubric, Driver seat data on TNC activity, survey research for the Clippers’ arrival patterns, and pickup and drop-off management changes at the Hollywood Bowl can help evaluate system changes quickly and effectively.
• Testing Innovations: We recently helped Supernal explore vertiport siting by combining several big data sets. The ’28 Games offer a prime opportunity for new mobility vendors to test new data analysis and concepts, leveraging the excitement and captive audience to showcase innovations.