How la is preparing for the 2028 olympics
Art by Florence Fraser-Macduff
With the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles just around the corner, L.A has invested more than 7 Billion dollars into the games, including expanding regional infrastructure to support them.
A large focus of this expansion has been on public transportation, with LA Metro reporting it’s expecting more than a million extra trips per day, adding to the already nine hundred thousand it’s already receiving daily. To support this substantial increase in ridership, L.A Metro has already started working on multiple projects across L.A and improvements on the transportation equipment.
One of the most notable projects Metro has been working on is the extension of the Purple line into Westwood, a project which has been underway for more than a decade and cost the city over 9.5 billion dollars. The extension is just a small part of Metro’s greater aim to create a citywide interlinked public transit called the Games Enhanced Transit System (GETS). GETS would be a temporary system that would supplement and support the existing transit systems and allow spectators and workers participating in the games to move to and from venues across L.A without having to use personal transportation, such as cars.
The system would also be used to help model and plan for future expansion of the Metro system, and provide lasting improvements to the Metro system after the games ended. Adding to its sustainability goals, L.A Metro has been moving towards cleaner emissions by installing more electric and hydrogen powered buses in its bus fleet, planning to be mostly zero-emissions by the time the games start.
Another key issue the planners of the ’28 Olympic Games are trying to tackle is carbon emissions and sustainability. The non-profit organization behind planning the L.A Olympics, LA28 has put forth various efforts to cut carbon emissions with the goal of becoming the most sustainable games yet, according to LA28’s official website. Some of the more major sustainability efforts include having 100 percent renewable electricity at every venue, and having 90 percent of materials used for building temporary infrastructure at the games be recycled at the end of the event according to the LA28 website.
In addition, L.A has prioritized implementing the Zero Build Policy into the games. The policy is put in place to ensure that no new permanent stadiums will be built for the ‘28 Olympics. Instead, the games will be hosted at a variety of already existing venues, such as Sofi Stadium, Crypto.com arena, the Rose Bowl and among other local stadiums. The reason behind this is to avoid carbon emissions and prevent costly and rushed stadiums that have a high chance of being unused after the games, an example of this being the construction of the ice rink in Milan Cortina for the ‘26 Winter Olympics.
However, this zero-build policy doesn’t mean that other kinds of regional infrastructure are not being built in L.A. Los Angeles Airport has put in work to reduce traffic congestion by creating a tram system that will connect every terminal, allowing airport-goers to travel to terminals without having to use a car.
With all of the investment into the games by L.A, the city is posed to benefit in the long term. Some of these possible long-term benefits include a boost in short-term jobs leading up to, during and after the games begin. Another possible benefit is an increase in tourism, as the LA28 games are expected to bring in more than 15 million spectators from around the world, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. Lastly the improvement to public spaces by the city in order to revitalize them for residents and spectators when the games begin in 2028.
Gabriella Brito (’28), who swims competitively, who speaks from experience of swimming in the Junior Olympics spoke about the effect of the Olympics on youth sports in LA, “I definitely think LA28 will inspire more students and young athletes to get involved in swimming and other sports. Seeing athletes who grew up in similar places or situations makes it really inspiring and it makes it feel possible. It shows that if you put in the hard work and stay dedicated, you can reach big goals. I hope it encourages students to keep going after what they love and find something they can express themselves through.”
The 2028 Olympics have already shown immense popularity despite a more than two-year gap from now to opening day. Ticket registration for LA28 opened on Jan. 14, 2026, and over 1.5 million people signed up for tickets in the first 24 hours alone. This amount of registrations filled out on the first day broke the previous record, and was greater than the combined total of first day registrations for the Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 and Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics according to the Los Angeles Times.
With all the popularity, and tickets sold for the LA28 Olympics, L.A is putting in a lot of work to build a sustainable and inter-connected Olympics’ that brings both short, and long term benefits for the city.