From gondolas to “festival trails,” transportation and environmental advocates hope to create legacy infrastructure that will serve citizens of Los Angeles long after the 2026 World Cup and 2028 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games are over, and meet California carbon emission goals.

Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) chief program management officer Tim Lindholm said key transit projects will open next year in time for the events. Those include an estimated $143-million, 5.5-mile system of biking and walking paths through central LA called the Rail to Rail/River Active Transportation Corridor, the connector to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), an extension of a light rail line in the San Gabriel Valley to Pomona and the first three stations of the D Line (formerly Purple Line). The rest of the D Line, extending into Beverly Hills, should open in 2026 and 2027, he told attendees of ENR's LA Infrastructure Forum, held Nov. 18 in Los Angeles.

"We now have more than a million riders a day on our system, and so we are continuing to advance our initiatives to make Metro safer, cleaner and more accessible," said LA Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins. "All of these and more infrastructure projects, when completed, will show the world what LA County and America are capable of." 

 A "major portion" of work to untangle the "spaghetti bowl" of roads and ramps at Los Angeles International Airport will complete by 2028, Michael Christensen, Chief Development Officer for LA World Airports (second from right), told the Nov. 18 ENR LA Infrastructure Forum, joined by other regional transportation officials weighing in on projects underway in advance of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games to be held in the city.
Image: Russell Marquez for L.A. County Public Works

Comparing LA’s experience in hosting the 1984 Olympics to the 2028 events, Metro chief planning officer Ray Sosa noted that unlike before, the city now has several rail lines. “We have a mobility concept plan for the Games for 3 million people needing rides,” he told attendees of CoMotion LA, a mobility conference held in the city's Little Tokyo district Nov. 12-14.

A network of some 100 miles of bus priority lanes are expected to remain after the Games end, he added. So will expected sidewalk improvements to facilitate the first-mile/last-mile options of walking and biking.

The victory parade for the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this month could be a warm-up for “getting people used to transit,” said Sam Morrissey, vice president of transportation for LA28, the nonprofit organizing entity for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He noted that LA28 officials spent time in Paris during this year’s games. There, mass transit “was not perfect—some trains broke down—but you could get off” and easily get on another one, Morrissey said.

Marcel Porras, deputy chief of Metro’s Innovation office, noted that “there were lots of temporary wayfinding in Paris,” including digital wayfinding on apps. One lesson learned is that not all apps worked consistently across all types of phones, he said. Another was that often bike parking stations were packed.

Moreover, in preparation for the Paralympic Games and to better serve differently abled attendees and others afterward, “ADA compliance is not the ceiling—it’s the floor” for goals, he said.

Romain Erny, head of business sectors and aftercare for Choose Paris Region, added that all 25 Olympic venues in Paris were no further than 400 meters from a metro stop. Moreover, the city now has over 60 miles of permanent bike lanes as a result of hosting the Games.

Non-profit organization Move LA hopes to emulate that with a planned 22-mile mobility corridor consisting of “Festival Trails” that would connect 14 Olympic venues and create 11 neighborhood hubs. Segments of the corridor would include the Rail to Rail/River Active Transportation Corridor, a $425-million, 12.4-mile bus rapid transit corridor and potentially making Grand Avenue in Downtown LA a pedestrian-only street.

In the long term, the corridor segments could allow for 20,000 units of affordable housing while decreasing deaths at intersections as part of the federal Complete Streets vision, said Eli Lipmen, Move LA executive director.

Los Angeles Dept. of Transportation is looking at coordinated traffic signals, accessible curbs, sidewalks and ramps and a mobility platform informed by multiple data suppliers such as e-bikes, taxis and eventually autonomous vehicles, said General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo in a panel at the ENR LA Infrastructure Forum. "Paris unapologetically made sure streets were car-free" for the Olympics, she noted. "We are looking at key corridors for a similar approach."

Her staff is also consulting with disability advisors on improving wayfinding and accessibility for Paralympic athletes, disabled attendees and future users, she added.

As part of the Los Angeles International Airport's $30-billion capital program, a "major portion" of work to untangle the "spaghetti bowl" of roads and ramps will be done by 2028, said Michael Christensen, chief development officer at Los Angeles World Airports. Trains are in testing for the automated people mover and are expected to go into service in 2026. A digital transformation is also underway: "We're wiring up for 5G" and developing apps for travelers, he added.

Christensen added that LAX, through its Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) program, has awarded almost $2 billion to local and historically disadvantaged contractors and expects to award $6 billion more early next year.

 Some $1 billion of that work will consist of "basic repairs" to airport facilities, he said noting that a "bright shiny terminal" doesn't matter if the water or electricity isn't working. "We will fix the basics."

Up in the Air

Another mobility project that some hope will be ready for 2028—but that has sparked controversy and a lawsuit—is a proposed 1.2-mile gondola system connecting Union Station to Dodger Stadium. The system would be able to handle some 5,000 people per hour per direction and take up to 3,000 cars off the highways during Dodger games and other events, proponents say.

David Grannis, project director of Zero Emissions Transit, told CoMotion attendees that Metro accepted an unsolicited proposal and is in the midst of state environmental reviews and community information meetings. “We hope to be in procurement by 2026,” he said.

A Superior Court judge in August rejected a lawsuit by a group led by the Los Angeles Parks Alliance that said the city, not LA Metro, should have conducted environmental reviews for the Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit project.

Jon Mauch, sales director at Leitner-Poma of America, which provides ropeways for aerial trams, said gondola construction has been “booming in the last 20 years,” with systems now in place and thriving in South America and Europe.

In Burnaby, British Columbia, a proposed 1.6-mile gondola is in the final business case stage of planning, said Holly Foxcroft, lead planner for Translink, the Vancouver transit agency. As with the proposed LA project, the gondola would solve the issue of navigating steep slopes and extend upon the existing transit system. “It would cost less to operate—40%—than buses,” she added.