Claire RobertsonThe city of Los Angeles is using hundreds of millions in federal funding to improve transportation infrastructure in preparation for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The city received nearly $80 million from the Federal Transit Administration to electrify and expand the Metro bus system and better connect to Exposition Park, the site of core 2028 Olympics venues.
“We are preparing to be on the world stage in a way that will benefit every corner of Los Angeles by expanding and improving the transportation system in a sustainable way that creates good paying union jobs,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.
The Low or No Emissions Grant funding will be used to purchase zero-emissions buses, charging equipment and to build out supporting infrastructure. The battery-powered buses will replace compressed natural gas buses that are nearing the end of their useful life.
The project will reduce emissions and provide reliable and sustainable public transportation along bus routes in West Hollywood.
The award was highlighted by a visit from the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who attended a joint press conference with local leaders about federal funding the city recently received.
“These investments will help increase Metro ridership, get more cars off the road, make the air in LA cleaner for every single adult, and child, who breathes it in each day,” Buttigieg said. “And in four years when LA hosts the Olympics for the third time, Angelenos and Olympians alike will know just how efficient this region’s public transit can be. ”
The latest grant follows nearly $900 million the city received this year in anticipation of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The funds will be used across multiple projects to strengthen infrastructure, expand the Metro rail system and reconnect communities.
L.A. Metro received $709.9 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Fiscal Year 2024 transportation spending law for the D Line (Purple) Subway Extension Project.
The region also received $160 million for street and transportation infrastructure, including $139 million from the Reconnecting Communities Grant Program. The funds will be used to support the Removing Barriers and Creating Legacy Project, an initiative to improve mobility across highways and arterial barriers.
