Can LA host a 'car-free' Olympics?

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: Can LA Host a 'Car-Free' Olympics?
Podcast: The Indicator from Planet Money
Date: September 22, 2025
Host: Darren Woods
Guests: Sonari Glinton (Reporter, Forbes Columnist), Scarlet De Leon (Alliance for Community Transit LA), Stephen Chung (LA Economic Development Corporation)

This episode explores Los Angeles’ ambitious plans to host a near “car-free” Olympics in 2028, focusing on the region’s $120 billion transit expansion. The conversation dives into whether these investments can transform a city famous for its car culture, and critically, whether the benefits will reach existing working-class transit riders or mainly serve Olympic visitors and new arrivals.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

LA’s Transit Transformation Ambitions

• Cultural Context:

  • LA’s car culture is iconic but changing.
  • "Driving is a core part of California culture and even more so, Los Angeles culture. That, though, is changing, Right?"
    – Senari Glinton [00:47]

• 28 by 28 Plan:

  • Aims to complete 28 major transportation projects before the 2028 Olympics for a “no car Olympics.”
  • $120 billion investment over 40 years, including new subway lines, light rail, and expanded bus service.

• Olympics and FIFA World Cup Pressure:

  • LA must avoid a traffic nightmare for both 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympics.
  • Short-term and long-term objectives are under the microscope.

Wilshire Boulevard – LA’s Main Street

• Symbolizes LA’s transition from “car-dominated suburban past” to a more urban, transit-centered future.

  • "Wilshire is our boulevard of cold feet and second thoughts. The place where Los Angeles confronts its deep ambivalence about putting a low rise, car dominated and essentially suburban past behind it for good."
    – Citing LA Times critic, via Senari Glinton [03:09]

• Significant subway expansion beneath Wilshire, connecting new cultural destinations and neighborhoods.

Equity, Access, and Who Benefits?

• Scarlet De Leon’s Perspective:

  • Activist from ACT-LA, grew up transit-dependent in Koreatown.
  • Concern that investments target future, affluent riders and tourists, not current working-class transit users.
  • "It's like you are choosing to create a system for a certain rider that you want to attract versus the riders that are already on the system, which are working class folks."
    – Scarlet De Leon [06:13]

• Side Effects:

  • Transit improvements can lead to gentrification:
    • Higher land values, rising rents and possible displacement near new subway stations.

• Scarlet’s Priorities:

  • Focus on bus service improvements and equitable investment.
  • Protected bus and bike lanes could have immediate, cost-effective benefits for current riders.
  • "Improve bus service, it would improve reliability, it's cost effective ... and it would mostly possibly impact current riders who are already using that bus every day."
    – Scarlet De Leon [06:48]

The $120 Billion Question

• Funding:

  • Measure M (2016): LA sales tax increase, sold on big promises (mostly rail/subway expansion).
  • Plan aimed at easing congestion and making mobility of all kinds easier.

• Stephen Chung’s Economic Perspective:

  • CEO of LA Economic Development Corporation.
  • $120 billion is “significant, but ... you can only make a small dent” due to LA's sheer size and complexity (88 cities, 100+ unincorporated areas).
  • "You're not going to transform that vast of a region with that investment."
    – Stephen Chung [08:02]
  • Positive side: new infrastructure will remain in underserved communities after Olympics.
  • "Those folks in the underserved community have better access ... to jobs and other opportunities as well."
    – Stephen Chung [08:51]

• Global Context:

  • Making real progress requires a blend of buses and rail, as seen in other world-class cities.

The Real Test: Will LA Go Car-Light for Good?

• Future Outlook:
  • Success depends on drivers embracing transit beyond the Olympics.
  • Critical to enhance transit for those who already depend on it daily.
  • "Now the test ... will be whether drivers get out of their cars not just for the Olympics, but long term and for Scarlett, whether it improves the transit system for the people who rely on it right now."
    – Senari Glinton [09:21]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The question is, can we access all this in a day? And the answer right now is no, unless you want to be in traffic for two hours."
  – Scarlet De Leon [04:06]
• "Development wise, this is pretty sexy. What’s actually sexier is if we can experience our city without traffic."
  – Senari Glinton and Scarlet De Leon [03:53, 03:59]
• "Improve bus service ... protected bus lanes, protected bike lanes with green infrastructure ... cost effective for Metro and it would mostly possibly impact current riders who are already using that bus every day."
  – Scarlet De Leon [06:48]
• "You’re not going to transform that vast of a region with that investment."
  – Stephen Chung [08:02]
• "You need the mixture of both systems of rail and bus a lot of times in order for you to truly make an impact on the transit access as well as usage."
  – Stephen Chung [09:08]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:47] – Car culture in LA and its transformation
• [01:11] – Overview of the 28 by 28 plan and transit expansion aims
• [03:09] – Wilshire Blvd as symbol of LA’s ambivalence
• [04:06] – Scarlet De Leon introduces equity concerns
• [05:01] – Overview of current transit network statistics
• [06:01] – Debate: Who benefits from big transit investments?
• [06:48] – Scarlet’s case for prioritizing buses and “complete green streets”
• [07:27] – Measure M and the funding/marketing behind LA transit
• [08:02] – Stephen Chung on the limits of transit transformation
• [08:51] – Lasting benefits for underserved communities
• [09:21] – The test: will drivers shift for the long haul?

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Summary

This episode unpacks Los Angeles’ high-stakes experiment to redefine urban mobility ahead of the Olympics—a city trying to shed its car-dominated legacy for a more inclusive, transit-focused future. While $120 billion and dozens of marquee projects fuel excitement, insiders like Scarlet De Leon demand a more immediate, equitable impact for those who rely on transit every day. As immense challenges—from LA’s size to the risk of displacement—loom, success will depend on balancing world-class spectacle with everyday realities.

The Olympian question remains: can LA change not just for two weeks of Games, but for generations of Angelenos—no matter what they drive, or if they drive at all?

Transcript

[Scarlet De Leon]

Npr.

[Darren Woods]

This is the Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Darren woods and with me is reporter and Forbes columnist Sunari Glinton. Many listeners will recognize his voice from NPR and Planet Money and his years covering the auto industry. Now Senari lives mostly car free in Hollywood.

[Senari Glinton]

It's good to be with you, Darian. And you know, I been thinking about Hollywood and driving and Brian Wilson died this summer.

[Darren Woods]

Rest in peace, Brian Wilson. And at the time, the Little Deuce Coupe album went to number four on the Billboard charts.

[Senari Glinton]

Oh, the harmonies. Yes, I know it's a gratuitous song cue, but driving is a core part of California culture and even more so, Los Angeles culture. That, though, is changing, Right?

[Darren Woods]

I heard Los Angeles is having a bit of a mass transit renaissance. It's building a new subway, light rail, and adding $120 billion of transit infrastructure for Los Angeles county over 40 years.

[Senari Glinton]

Yeah, there is the 28 by 28 plan, which aims to complete 28 huge projects in time for the 2028 Olympics. Now, the goal is is a no car Olympics.

[Darren Woods]

Quite a goal for a city known for its car culture. Today on the show, the debate over how those billions of dollars should be spent and how those funds will serve the Angelenos who already use LA's public transit.

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[Darren Woods]

Let'S start with what is easily seen as the most important road in Los Angeles. Wilshire Boulevard is 16 miles long and essentially LA's Main Street. It's lined with skyscrapers for almost its entire length and connects many of the county's diverse neighborhoods.

[Senari Glinton]

Yeah, the LA Times architecture critic said it really poetically. Wilshire is our boulevard of Cold feet and second thoughts. The place where Los Angeles confronts its deep ambivalence about putting a low rise, car dominated and essentially suburban past behind it for good.

[Darren Woods]

Now LA is breaking with its suburban past by building a multi billion dollar subway under the street. It's expected to transform the city.

[Senari Glinton]

Yeah, exactly. And one news station will connect with a brand new museum with new galleries worth $720 million. They had to use a special machine to dig through the tar pits and LA's varied topography. Development wise, this is pretty sexy.

[Scarlet De Leon]

What's actually sexier is if we can experience our city without traffic.

[Senari Glinton]

That's transit advocate Scarlet De Leon. She's with act LA alliance for Community Transit Los Angeles.

[Scarlet De Leon]

Los Angeles has the potential to be this amazing city. We have great food, great neighborhoods, diversity. We have nature. The question is, can we access all this in a day? And the answer right now is no, unless you want to be in traffic for two hours.

[Senari Glinton]

Now I met Scarlett in Koreatown, one of the neighborhoods that straddles LA's Wilshire Boulevard. This is where Scarlet grew up, in Koreatown, the child of Guatemalan immigrants. And Scarlet's group advocates for transit and affordable housing in the city.

[Scarlet De Leon]

Like many folks in my community, we were public transportation dependent. And so most folks in Koreatown, but also most folks in Los Angeles who are working class, who are immigrant, who are black, religious, rely on the bus system to get to essential services.

[Darren Woods]

Los Angeles Metro already runs one of the largest bus fleets in the country with more than 2,000 buses. There's also six rail lines, just over 100 rail stations and a bike share network. It adds up to around a million rides a day.

[Senari Glinton]

Now this ongoing expansion includes three new subway extensions, additional light rail including to Los Angeles International Airport and multiple bus rapid transit corridors. The long term goal is to stitch together Los Angeles's many communities into one transit network. The short term goal is not to have a traffic nightmare when LA hosts the 2026 FIFA World cup and the 28 Olympics.

[Scarlet De Leon]

Well, you know the Olympics are being called a no car Olympics and if you are in Los Angeles, you know that that's almost like impossible to have. So which means that folks are going to or the agencies and the city is going to have to very quickly figure some stuff out.

[Darren Woods]

Scarlet worries the investments are not focused on the working class residents who rely on transit now. Instead, she says, it's aimed at attracting new riders and servicing tourists who are coming in for the Olympics.

[Scarlet De Leon]

And that rider is not living here currently. It's like it's a value on budgets, right? Like you are choosing to create a system for a certain writer that you want to attract versus the writers that are already on the system, which are working class folks.

[Darren Woods]

Scarlett says the big splashy projects like the subway also have a bunch of unintended side effects. Like areas near subways see increased land values, home prices and rent.

[Senari Glinton]

If you had your choice, where would you put the priorities?

[Scarlet De Leon]

If I had my choice, Metro would be before doing anything, improving the bus service and really making an investment on bus lanes on high ridership streets, making them what we call complete green streets where they would be protected bus lanes, protected bike lanes with green infrastructure. And what that would do improve bus service, it would improve reliability, it's cost effective for Metro and it would mostly possibly impact current riders who are already using that bus every day.

[Senari Glinton]

Funding for this transit expansion though, comes with strings. In 2016, LA residents passed a sales tax to fund transit. It's called Measure M. Now to sell a permanent sales tax, planners leaned hard on big promises. A big subway expansion, a light rail expansion. The plan had everything from bike paths to earthquake retrofits. But it was clearly sold to the public as more subway overall.

[Darren Woods]

The plan was meant to ease congestion, expand public transit and make it easier to drive, bike and walk around the city.

[Stephen Chung]

You're not going to transform that vast of a region with that investment.

[Senari Glinton]

Stephen Chung is the CEO of the LA Economic Development Corporation and the World Trade Center Los Angeles. His job is to promote and help improve LA's economy.

[Stephen Chung]

$120 billion, although it's significant, but the region is so vast that you can only make a small dent because just cost of construction is so high that you you're not able to basically address this vast area that we know as Los Angeles.

[Darren Woods]

He says LA is much bigger and complex than people imagine. The county of Los Angeles has 88 cities, 100 unincorporated areas. Still he he believes there is an upside for Angelenos because many of the new transit systems for the Olympics will go in and through communities that need it and will still be there once the games are over.

[Stephen Chung]

Then those folks in the underserved community have better access to transportation to move them around to jobs and to other opportunities as well.

[Senari Glinton]

Steven Chung says you also have to look at other transit systems in other big cities around the globe before you.

[Stephen Chung]

You judge LA when you compare and contrast. You need the mixture of both systems of rail and bus a lot of times in order for you to truly make an impact on the transit access as well as usage.

[Senari Glinton]

Now the test Darian will be whether drivers get out of their cars not just for the Olympics, but long term and for Scarlett, whether it improves the transit system for the people who rely on it right now.

[Darren Woods]

Cue the horns and check out Sunari's work at Forbes. Thank you for riding with us, Senari.

[Senari Glinton]

Always. And catch you on Air Expo line.

[Darren Woods]

See you there. This episode was produced by Julia Ritchie with engineering by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact checked by Sarah Juarez. Kate Concannon edits the show and the indicator is in production of npr.

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