# LA’s ‘No-Car’ Olympics Plan Explained ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained.webp]] **Creator:** The B1M · **Published:** 2026-04-13 · **Length:** 18:55 · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT1WO8zWk7o) > Caption source: YouTube English (United Kingdom) **manual** captions downloaded with **yt-dlp** (`en-GB`, the video's only manual track; 240 timed cues) — TubeAlfred not needed. Figures and spellings (2017 double award; **four** 2024 bidders dropped out; LA waited **four years** for extra funding; Games cost ~**$7BN**; **1932** — half as many athletes as Amsterdam 1928, **100,000** at the Opening Ceremony; **1984** Soviet-bloc boycott, Carl Lewis **four** golds, profit **over $250M**; Paris **95%** existing venues; SoFi **40,000**-seat aquatics venue, World Cup **2026**, Super Bowl **2027**; Coliseum upgraded **1990**; **40+** venues; Metro first line **1990**, **100+ miles**; airport link **June 2025** on the **K** and **C** lines; people mover **2026**; A Line upgrades **2019**; E Line first phase **2023**; D Line Extension **seven** stations, **2027**, tunnelling done **2024**, **two** TBMs over **five years**, **14 km**, **30,000** riders a day, ~**50 ft** a day, Downtown–West LA **<30 min**; "Twenty-eight by 28" announced **2018**, **28** projects, **$26BN+**, about a **third** in operation, **11** removed; ~**2,000** buses; **$3BN+** federal request (Zimbalist: "not 3.2 billion, only 1.2 billion"); Eastside Phase 2 **2035** at the earliest; Hollywood Bowl **50%+** by bus) cross-checked with The B1M's companion article, [Will Los Angeles Be Ready For The Next Olympics?](https://theb1m.com/video/will-los-angeles-be-ready-for-the-next-olympics) (byline **Adam Savage**, 13 April 2026), which matches the narration almost word for word and confirms interviewee affiliations. On-screen captions: **Andrew Zimbalist** — economist and author of *Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympic Games and World Cup*; **Joshua Schank** — Partner, InfraStrategies, and former Chief Innovation Officer, LA Metro. YouTube chapters used for section headings; they line up with the captions. Screenshots from the 720p stream (format 136). Host **Fred Mills**. Contains paid promotion for **Accenture** (~11:21–12:54; accenture.com/icp); description also promotes Fred's book ***Mega Builds*** (pre-order). Additional images and footage: IOC, Metro Transportation Research Library and Archive, LA28, ABC7, CBS LA, euronews, FRANCE 24, Jose Hidalgo, KTLA 5, LA Clippers, LA This Week, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Metro and NBCLA. ## Outline ### 0:00 Intro - **0:06** "The Paris 2024 Olympics seemed like only yesterday" — but it's 2026, so we're already halfway to the next Games. - **0:17** The next host has set ambitious targets: **zero new venues**, and it has positioned itself as a **"no-car" event**. "So remind me, where is this being held again?" — **Los Angeles**. - **0:33** Despite a strong Olympic past, LA isn't known for public transit and has numerous other challenges before summer **2028**. What are they — and can it be ready in time? - **0:51** **Andrew Zimbalist**: hosting has become "enormously burdensome — financially, socially, environmentally"; if LA can't pull it off, it will be even more discouraging to potential future host cities. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0008.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0040.webp]] ### 1:06 Securing the Olympics - **1:07** Archive: "Moving the hashtag from 2024 to 2028, Los Angeles has decided it can wait it out an extra four years." - **1:16** When LA was awarded **2028** in **2017**, the situation was far from normal: **Paris** was given **2024** at the very same event — two host cities had never been announced together. - **1:36** Zimbalist: the **IOC** was having enormous difficulty finding willing hosts; **four** cities bidding for 2024 dropped out (on screen, **Hamburg** and **Budapest** are crossed out). By the 2017 decision only Paris and LA were left — "They were both good bets." - **2:03** LA was still a strong contender and agreed to wait four more years in return for **extra funding** — helpful, as the Games are expected to cost around **$7BN**. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0072.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0110.webp]] ### 2:18 Previous occasions - **2:18** LA was a "good bet" not just to avoid another awkward round of bids from a dwindling field, but because it has done it — twice. - **2:33** **1932**, during the **Great Depression**: half as many athletes as **Amsterdam** four years earlier, yet a then-record **100,000** people attended the Opening Ceremony (companion: at the **LA Memorial Coliseum**). - **2:49** **1984**: fewer countries again, this time due to a **Soviet-bloc boycott** — yet **Carl Lewis** won four golds, **Michael Jordan** top-scored in the basketball, and the Games finished with an actual **profit of over $250M**. - **3:11** 2028 will make LA the **first city to host three times**, continuing a trend set by the two previous hosts. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0145.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0175.webp]] ### 3:21 No-Build Games - **3:21** **Paris** and **Tokyo** both focused on **reusing venues** — cutting costs and avoiding giant arenas that become **white elephants**. - **3:38** Paris set the bar with **95%** of venues already existing; LA28 plans to go ahead with **no new builds at all**. - **3:49** Many stadiums need very little doing or are brand new: the **Intuit Dome** (home of the NBA's **Clippers**) for basketball; **Dodger Stadium** for baseball; the **Whittier Narrows Clay Shooting Center** "isn't going to be hosting the Dressage." - **4:17** Not all venues are being used as you'd expect, and some need significant upgrading. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0210.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0240.webp]] ### 4:28 Adapting venues - **4:28** **SoFi Stadium** — built for the NFL, hosting **FIFA World Cup** matches in **2026** and the **Super Bowl** in **2027** — won't host football of either kind in 2028, but **swimming**. - **4:51** The most expensive stadium ever built will become the **largest dedicated aquatics venue in Olympic history**, with **40,000 seats**; details aren't fully known, but it means building a large pool in the middle of the stadium and removing it before the next NFL season. - **5:14** Paris proved it can be done — its temporary 2024 pool was built in just over a month. - **5:33** Zimbalist liked the **USC** venue used in **1984**, but organisers felt it didn't provide the ideal environment; SoFi makes sense for showing LA in its best light on international TV. - **5:57** Original plan: SoFi for the Closing Ceremony, the **LA Memorial Coliseum** for the opener; now the **Opening Ceremony will be co-hosted** by both stadiums. - **6:11** The Coliseum will host **athletics**, but its **1990** upgrade added extra seating around the lower tiers, leaving no room for a track. Fix: a **temporary deck** on the bowl floor, propped on supports, with warm-up space underneath. - **6:50** Overall **40+ venues** across the city — from **Santa Monica** to **Anaheim**, **Pasadena** to **Long Beach**. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0275.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0305.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0345.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0395.webp]] ### 6:57 No-Car Games? - **6:58** You might assume visitors will just drive — but Mayor **Karen Bass** wants the exact opposite: "no cars to the venues," calling the Olympics a chance for transformative change. - **7:17** For a city seen as car-centric that sounds crazy — "or maybe not": since 1984 LA has gained the **Metro** rail system. - **7:35** In **1990**, six years after the last Games, the first line opened (archive of the **Metro Blue Line** opening day: "I can't drive my car for three months so maybe I'll just ride this thing"), promising rail would link communities over the next two decades. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0425.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0455.webp]] ### 8:06 Metro upgrades - **8:05** Was the promise kept? A quarter-century on, the network has **well over 100 miles** of routes, with much done since the LA28 announcement. - **8:22** As of **June 2025** the rail system is finally linked to the airport on the **K** and **C** lines; an **automated people mover** follows in **2026**, linking the new **Metro Transit Center** directly to the **LAX** terminals. - **8:43** The southern Blue Line — now the **A Line** — "heading Straight Outta **Compton**, down to Long Beach," got upgraded tracks, power, switching and controls in **2019**. - **8:59** The **Eastside Transit Corridor** will link Downtown to four **Gateway Cities** in southeast LA County; phase one (**Little Tokyo** to **Atlantic** station, East LA, on the **E Line**) completed in **2023**. - **9:18** **Joshua Schank**: the project most critical for the Games and LA's future is the subway under **Wilshire Boulevard** — the **D Line Extension**, from **Union Station** through a major retail/commercial district to the **Westside**; high capacity in a dense corridor, "much faster than buses… much more effectively than cars." - **9:52** Full route with **seven** new stations due **2027**; tunnelling concluded **2024**. **Two TBMs** spent **five years** digging the **14 km** line, set to carry ~**30,000** people a day — "one of the most complex engineering feats" LA Metro has undertaken (a board member). - **10:17** Crews dug ~**50 ft** a day through **gassy ground**, **tar sands** and **abandoned oil wells**; riders will go Downtown–West LA in **under 30 minutes**. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0500.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0535.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0575.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0610.webp]] ### 10:36 Twenty-eight by 28 - **10:36** The works are part of **"Twenty-eight by 28"**, announced by the city's former Mayor in **2018** — **28** transport projects to finish before the Games, costing **$26BN+**; about **a third** are operating. - **11:00** "No-car" doesn't mean no roads: drivers will park away from venues or use **Uber**, bikes or scooters via planned **mobility hubs**. - **11:21** Near **Silicon Valley**, digital tools will be part of the solution — data, **AR, VR and AI**; research shows **92%** of projects miss commitments due to poor upfront planning, talent shortages, shifting regulation and stakeholder scrutiny. - **12:08** Sponsor segment — **Accenture**: **5,000+** capital-project experts worldwide; strategy, construction tech and project controls from concept to completion; accenture.com/icp. Paid promotion through ~**12:54**. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0645.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0672.webp]] ### 13:00 Transport alternatives - **13:01** Schank: "The Games are not the ideal place to test new technologies, but now is a good time to test new technologies for the Games." - **13:16** He's a believer in **on-demand transit** — he helped set up **Metro Micro**, LA's microtransit service — which has a role at least in **first/last-mile** trips. - **13:36** The main alternative to cars will be **energy-efficient buses**: officials plan to order ~**2,000**, with **dedicated freeway lanes** (rider: "No traffic. It is just wonderful."). - **13:58** A throwback to **1984**, when buses were essential to prevent gridlock. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0790.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0820.webp]] ### 14:05 Funding issues - **14:06** No guarantee the buses arrive — they depend on **federal funding**. LA transit officials have requested **more than $3BN** from the **Trump Administration**, also for freeway **fast lanes** for athletes and workers. - **14:32** **Congress** approved a large chunk in early **2026**, but well short of the target — and **Donald Trump**'s relationship with the Mayor of LA and the **Governor of California** has been frosty. - **14:54** Zimbalist: Trump might tell the **Department of Transportation** "not 3.2 billion, only 1.2 billion" — then LA would have to go "from the 'no-car Games' to the 'some-car Games.'" ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0860.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0900.webp]] ### 15:22 Going ‘Transit-First’ - **15:22** That may explain why organisers now call it a **"transit-first" Games** rather than "no cars" — not a U-turn; public transit will still be the main way to travel. - **15:41** Schank: with the right communication and planning it's "very possible" — at the auto-centric **Hollywood Bowl**, over **50%** of visitors now arrive **by bus**, thanks to well-run buses and parking priced at "what it should cost, which is a lot." ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0935.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0965.webp]] ### 16:25 Moving the goalposts - **16:26** Several schemes have slipped to **after** the Games: **Eastside Corridor Phase 2** isn't due until **2035** at the earliest, and even that isn't the full line. - **16:40** It's one of **11** projects removed from "Twenty-eight by 28", substituted with schemes already in progress or operational. - **16:52** Schank: many were "much more aspirational… 'wouldn't it be great if we got this done?'" — not all realistic, and people knew it at the time. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t0995.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t1030.webp]] ### 17:38 Will the gamble pay off? - **17:14** Will the venues, infrastructure and event be done on time — and come in under budget again, or at least not way over? - **17:28** Zimbalist sees promising signs (ticket sales, TV contracts, sponsorships) and hopes LA will "come in on balance," but the no-cars plan "does create some vulnerability" for both the Games' goals and their financing. - **17:56** There's still time to finish the essential projects — a chance for America's second city to prove again it can put on the biggest of shows. - **18:13** Schank: people mock LA as car-dependent and "often vapid" — a grain of truth, but there's much more he'd love the world to see. - **18:36** Accenture thanks and subscribe reminder. ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t1065.webp]] ![[images/LAs-No-Car-Olympics-Plan-Explained-t1100.webp]] ## Things mentioned ### Games and events - **LA28** — 2028 Summer Olympics (awarded 2017; ~$7BN; zero new venues; "no-car" → "transit-first") - **Paris 2024** (awarded at the same 2017 IOC session; 95% existing venues; temporary pool built in just over a month) - **Tokyo 2020** (venue reuse) - **LA 1932** (Great Depression; 100,000 at the Opening Ceremony) and **LA 1984** (Soviet-bloc boycott; $250M+ profit; heavy bus use) - **Amsterdam 1928** (comparison) - **FIFA World Cup 2026** and **Super Bowl 2027** at SoFi Stadium - Withdrawn 2024 bidders (on screen: Hamburg, Budapest) ### Venues - **SoFi Stadium** — NFL; 40,000-seat temporary aquatics venue; co-hosting the Opening Ceremony - **LA Memorial Coliseum** — 1932/1984 Games; 1990 seating upgrade; temporary raised athletics deck; co-hosting the Opening Ceremony - **Intuit Dome** (LA Clippers) — basketball - **Dodger Stadium** — baseball - **Whittier Narrows Clay Shooting Center** — shooting - **USC** (University of Southern California) — 1984 swimming venue - **Hollywood Bowl** — 50%+ of visitors by bus - 40+ venues across Santa Monica, Anaheim, Pasadena and Long Beach ### Transport projects and systems - **LA Metro** rail (first line 1990 — the Blue Line; 100+ miles) - **K Line** and **C Line** — LAX link (June 2025); **LAX automated people mover** (2026) and **Metro Transit Center** - **A Line** (former Blue Line) — 2019 upgrades, Compton to Long Beach - **E Line** / **Eastside Transit Corridor** — phase one Little Tokyo–Atlantic (2023); Phase 2 not before 2035 - **D Line Extension** (Wilshire Boulevard subway) — Union Station to the Westside; 7 stations; 14 km; 2 TBMs; tunnelling done 2024; opens 2027; ~30,000 riders/day - **"Twenty-eight by 28"** — 28 projects, $26BN+, ~a third operating, 11 removed - **Metro Micro** (microtransit); mobility hubs; Uber, bikes and scooters - ~2,000 energy-efficient buses; dedicated freeway bus/fast lanes ### Organisations and companies - The B1M / Fred Mills (host); Adam Savage (companion byline) - **IOC**; **LA28** organising committee - **LA Metro**; **InfraStrategies** (Joshua Schank) - **Trump Administration**, **US Congress**, **US Department of Transportation**; Governor of California - **NFL**, **NBA** (LA Clippers), **FIFA** - **Accenture** (paid promotion) - Footage: IOC, Metro Transportation Research Library and Archive, LA28, ABC7, CBS LA, euronews, FRANCE 24, Jose Hidalgo, KTLA 5, LA Clippers, LA This Week, LAX, Metro, NBCLA (plus FOX 11 on screen) ### Books and media - ***Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympic Games and World Cup*** — Andrew Zimbalist - ***Mega Builds*** — Fred Mills (pre-order, in description) - "Straight Outta Compton" (N.W.A reference) ### Places - **Los Angeles** — Downtown, Westside, West LA, Wilshire Boulevard, Little Tokyo, East Los Angeles, Union Station, LAX, Compton, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Anaheim, southeast LA County's Gateway Cities - **Silicon Valley**; **Paris**; **Tokyo**; **Amsterdam**; Hamburg; Budapest ### Figures and facts - 2017 double award; 4 bidders dropped out of the 2024 race; ~$7BN cost - 1932: 100,000 at the Opening Ceremony; 1984: profit of $250M+, Carl Lewis 4 golds - Paris 95% existing venues vs LA 100% (zero new builds); SoFi 40,000 seats; 40+ venues - Metro 100+ miles; D Line 14 km, 7 stations, 30,000/day, ~50 ft/day dug, <30 min Downtown–West LA - Twenty-eight by 28: 28 projects, $26BN+, 1/3 operating, 11 removed - ~2,000 buses; $3BN+ requested ("3.2 billion"); Hollywood Bowl 50%+ by bus - 92% of projects miss commitments (sponsor segment); Accenture 5,000+ experts ## Biographies ### Fred Mills Co-founder and on-camera host of **The B1M**. He presents this explainer with his usual humour ("isn't going to be hosting the Dressage", "Straight Outta Compton", red tape "to wrap an entire Olympic stadium"), walks through LA's venue plan, Metro build-out, "Twenty-eight by 28" and the funding politics, and presents the mid-video **Accenture** sponsor segment. The description also promotes his book ***Mega Builds***. ### Andrew Zimbalist American sports economist (long-time Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at **Smith College**), captioned on screen as economist and author of ***Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympic Games and World Cup*** (2015), a leading critique of mega-event economics. In the video he explains how the IOC's shortage of willing hosts led to the 2017 Paris/LA double award, warns that a failure in LA would further discourage future bidders, questions the move of swimming from USC to SoFi, sketches how a hostile White House could cut transit funding ("from the 'no-car Games' to the 'some-car Games'"), and concludes he's hopeful LA can break even while the no-cars plan creates financial and operational vulnerability. ### Joshua Schank Transport policy expert, captioned on screen as Partner at **InfraStrategies** and former **Chief Innovation Officer of LA Metro**, where he led the agency's innovation office and helped set up the **Metro Micro** on-demand microtransit service. He calls the **D Line (Wilshire) subway extension** the most critical project for both the Games and LA's future, urges testing new tech *before* the Games, cites the **Hollywood Bowl**'s 50%+ bus mode share as proof that good service plus properly priced parking changes behaviour, admits many "Twenty-eight by 28" projects were aspirational, and hopes the Games let the world see LA beyond its car-dependent image. ### Karen Bass Mayor of Los Angeles (since December 2022) and former US Representative. Quoted in archive footage pledging "no cars to the venues" and describing the Olympics as a chance for transformative change for the city's future. ### Former Mayor of Los Angeles (Eric Garcetti) Unnamed in the video as "the city's former Mayor" who announced **"Twenty-eight by 28"** in **2018**; that was **Eric Garcetti** (mayor 2013–2022, who led LA's 2028 bid and later served as US Ambassador to India). ### Donald Trump President of the United States, whose administration is weighing LA's **$3BN+** transit funding request; the video notes his frosty relations with LA's mayor and California's governor, and Zimbalist speculates he could cut the allocation. ### Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan Stars of LA 1984 cited by Fred: sprinter/long jumper **Carl Lewis** won four gold medals, and **Michael Jordan** top-scored for the US basketball team. ### Adam Savage (The B1M) Byline on The B1M companion article *[Will Los Angeles Be Ready For The Next Olympics?](https://theb1m.com/video/will-los-angeles-be-ready-for-the-next-olympics)* (13 April 2026), which mirrors the narration, confirms Zimbalist's and Schank's affiliations, places the 1932 Opening Ceremony at the LA Memorial Coliseum, and corroborates the figures on venues, Metro projects, "Twenty-eight by 28" and federal funding. ### Accenture Paid video sponsor — global professional-services firm promoting its capital-projects practice (5,000+ experts across strategy, construction technology and project controls) and AI/data-driven megaproject delivery; link accenture.com/icp.