Can L.A. actually accomplish a ‘car-free Olympics’?

The city’s lack of progress on transit projects isn’t for lack of effort — but it’s still years behind schedule

- JOSHUA SEAWELL

MYUNG J. CHUN Los Angeles Times METRO RAIL'S A Line leaves the Chinatown station. It and the E line now connect to the L.

WERE A STATE of “Big Dreams,” as author Bill Barich once chronicled in his tour of California from top to bottom.

But in our biggest city, dreams of a car-free Olympics are poised to remain just that: dreams. Only about a third of Metro’s “28 Projects by ‘28 Games” transit proposals are complete, even after a reshuffle of plans to be more realistic.

Meanwhile, the city is being sued by a concerned transit blogger for failing to implement Measure HLA, which commits it to executing its “Mobility Plan 2035,” including new bike lanes, bus lanes and pedestrian improvements. And rust will soon surface on the big dreams of high-speed rail between L.A. and San Francisco, with its funds rescinded by the Trump administration almost understandably after 15 years of work with precious little to show. When it comes to transit, climate hawks and urbanists get the message: Keep dreaming.

L.A.’s lack of progress isn’t for lack of effort. As we prepare to host the world yet again, the city is conducting the largest public transit buildout in the U.S. by far, financed by twin ballot measures (Measures M and R) that provide ample resources and at least some direction. LA Metro has staffed up accordingly, with an increasingly large and competent team and plans to bring more functions in-house and under its direct control.

We have, for our trouble, notched some wins recently: A Regional Connector project now unifies the A and E line with the L line downtown (if three years behind schedule), and a new L Line stop has opened in Pomona this month (though that extension was shortened and delayed). LAX now has a nearby Metro station that will help provide connectivity to SoFi Stadium during the Olympics and Paralympics.