Will LA Be Ready to Host the 2028 Olympics? Mayor Bass Addresses Top Concerns Including Homelessness and Traffic

PARIS (KABC) — In a few years, the Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles. However, all the excitement also brings logistical concerns.

Is the city ready for the global spotlight? How will leaders tackle pressing issues like homelessness and city infrastructure?

Paris and Los Angeles were simultaneously awarded the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games in 2017. City officials have been closely monitoring preparations in Paris and are now getting a first-hand look at what it takes to host a successful global event.

Eyewitness News spoke with Mayor Karen Bass about the massive undertaking set for 2028.

LA’s love of cars and the need to adapt

Bass believes one of the biggest challenges will be the “car-free Olympics.”

“We need 3,000 buses to get into the city, and 3,000 buses are not all going to be electric vehicles because we’re going to have to borrow them from a lot of cities,” she said. “That in itself is going to be a logistical nightmare.”

So when people hear the phrase “car-free,” some people might worry. Does that mean people can not drive their vehicles?

“That’s true,” Bass said. “It means that if you’re going to any of the Olympic venues, you’re going to have to take public transportation. That’s what it means, and you know, for our city where we were born with cars, it’s going to be tough.”

While Parisians and tourists love the Paris metro system, LA’s is much less popular.

Improving rider safety

What is being done as LA’s public transportation struggles with the recent increase in violence and drug use?

Bass said the city’s police force has recently been expanded and ambassadors have even been equipped with Narcan. She said it works.

“Our ambassadors saved 190 passengers,” she said. “I’m very happy that they did it, but I’m very sad that they had to do it at all, because that means 190 people overdosed on the buses, and last year in the first six months we had 50 deaths.”

Despite the alarming statistics, Bass said subway ridership is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Metro’s ridership has now reached the second most used public transportation system in the country,” she said. “That’s New York and Los Angeles. We’re even overtaking Chicago. Safety has to always be our number one priority.”

The Olympics can bring many benefits to a city like LA. Bass hopes that those who visit the city in 2028 will see all of LA, not just the popular tourist attractions.

“I want people to know where Little Bangladesh, Little Armenia, Ethiopia, Chinatown are… our businesses, our small businesses, our small family restaurants, that they have a stake in this too,” Bass said.

Tackling homelessness

Another major concern is the problem of homelessness in the city.

Bass was candid when discussing the topic, saying she ran for mayor in the first place because she wanted to solve this problem.

“We don’t need to build a big stadium. We’ve built all the stadiums. What we need to build is housing so our people don’t have to be on the streets,” she said.

“I don’t want the world to see this from the second largest city in the country, with an economy that’s larger than many other countries… our city, and we want the world to see Los Angeles at its best.”

Four years is not a lot of time to solve these enormous problems, but if we look at the positive side, as If we are successful, the benefits will be far-reaching and extend well beyond 2028.