Hosting the Olympics is a feat for any city, and after the many successes in Paris, fans are looking forward to seeing how Los Angeles will rise to the challenge in 2028. One question is already on people’s minds: Will Los Angeles’ notorious traffic and air quality be the Achilles heel of our Games?
Mayor Karen Bass wants a car-free Games, though the LA28 committee charged with organizing the events prefers to say “public transit first.” While those efforts can ease congestion on our roads, addressing Los Angeles’ air quality during the Olympics requires much more. Southern California has long had the most polluted air in the country, making it unhealthy to breathe hundreds of days a year, especially for vulnerable populations. To ensure cleaner air for visitors and athletes in 2028, as well as for Los Angeles residents long after the Games, we’ll need as many zero-emission vehicles as possible by 2028.
In 2018, public and private sector partners They joined forces to take advantage of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a catalyst to accelerate the electrification of transportation by the time the world reaches Los Angeles. We set ambitious goals for cars and trucks to reach zero emissions and set targets to reduce air and climate pollution, while driving investment in electric vehicle charging and car sharing in underserved neighborhoods. Later, developed a roadmap To ensure that vehicle charging and building electrification needs can be met with clean, renewable energy, including a new 50-megawatt virtual power plant comprised of solar generation, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging. While we have made progress, it is not enough.
As the world’s third-largest metropolitan economy, what Los Angeles does to improve air quality is important – we will set standards and be a model for others to follow. But we can’t meet the challenge of a car-free, near-zero-emissions Games without the help of federal partners.
In addition to expanding Los Angeles’ light rail and metro systems and converting more than 2,000 current transit buses to zero-emission buses, the region is expected to need up to 3,000 additional buses to transport visitors to and from the Games venues. These buses will be provided by public transit agencies and other entities across the country.
Metro officials have said they don’t want diesel buses from other cities and agencies, but zero-emission buses are in short supply. Only two major U.S. bus manufacturers make electric versions that are eligible for federal funding, and they can’t fill current orders. Despite historic investments in electric school buses and heavy-duty truck charging, much more infrastructure will be needed to charge all the electric buses that can be procured for the Games. And if we hope to attract visitors to L.A. landmarks without them having to rent a car, we’ll need to expand current electric bike and electric car-sharing programs throughout the city, including in underserved neighborhoods.
The epic transportation overhaul that is needed will be difficult, but it may be possible if existing incentives are made the most of. Here's how it could be done:
The next president should ask more manufacturers to make electric buses, using tax incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act to support that effort. Congress should appropriate matching funds to cover the purchase of at least one-third of the complementary buses (all zero-emission) needed for the Games. Those buses would then be distributed to transit systems across the country at a reduced cost.
- To make these buses chargeable, local, state, and utility incentives can be leveraged through private sector investment. Additionally, increased federal funding from the Departments of Energy and Transportation can help Los Angeles school districts, ports, and utilities build charging stations. These would include temporary and mobile stations, as well as distributed clean energy networks (solar, battery storage, etc.) that will charge buses at schools and transit centers, cars at mobility hubs, and trucks near ports.
- Finally, federal agencies and Congress can provide funding that leverages existing programs and complements initiatives by local transit agencies and state programs like Clean Mobility Options to increase the stock of shared electric vehicles and e-bikes, along with bike lanes, not only for visitors, but in disadvantaged and low-income communities.
The expanded electric vehicle and clean energy infrastructure for buses, trucks and electric cars that would emerge from these initiatives will clean up Los Angeles’ air long after the Games and make the 2028 Olympics a zero-emissions model for other cities to emulate. It would also create jobs and economic investment.
The 2028 Games could not have a better legacy than accelerating the zero-emissions future of Los Angeles and the country.
Matt Petersen is President and CEO of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and former Chief Sustainability Officer for LA. Mary Nichols is a Distinguished Attorney at UCLA School of Law and former Chair of the California Air Resources Board.
