LA Metro staff presented the agencys mobility concept plan (MCP) for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the CTC meeting in San Diego, estimating total mobility-related program and project needs at approximately $3.2 billion and noting a large funding gap.

Metros report: Jacqueline Torres, senior director at Metros Office of Strategic Innovation, told commissioners the MCP groups projects into games-essential temporary items (like Games Enhanced Transit Service or GATS and a Games Route Network for credentialed vehicles) and legacy infrastructure projects (first/last-mile, bus-priority corridors, mobility hubs, light-rail reliability, key station improvements). Metro said the peak-day spectator trips could add more than 1 million additional daily spectator trips compared with its typical operation and that project schedules are tightly constrained by the event date.

Federal grant and funding: Metro won a $161.5 million Federal Transit Administration Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) grant for a subset of MCP projects, including 35 miles of bus priority enhancements, five first/last-mile corridors, five years of subsidized transit passes, mobility hubs and bike-share stations. Torres said the RCN program is the only federal funding Metro has secured so far that is directly tied to the MCP. Metro estimated an overall implementation need of about $3.2 billion and said it is actively pursuing federal and state discretionary funding but that timing and scale remain uncertain.

Discussion and concerns: Commissioners pressed Metro on the financing and delivery risks. Several commissioners emphasized the opportunity to leverage games investments to produce long-term benefits and expressed concern about the size of the funding gap and the compressed schedule. Torres said Metro is pursuing discretionary funding, had made a presidential budget ask and was pursuing partnerships with municipal and federal partners; she also noted Metros strategy includes vehicle-sharing, fleet loans and other operational measures to reduce capital acquisition needs.

Why it matters: The mobility plan aims to handle an unprecedented surge of spectators and workers for the 2028 Games while delivering infrastructure that could benefit the region long-term. But Metro said funding remains the largest obstacle and asked for federal and state collaboration to bridge the gap.

Next steps: Metro will continue to refine cost estimates and pursue federal and state funding opportunities while coordinating with the Games Mobility Executives cohort of regional agencies and LA 28. Several commissioners said they would support state and federal engagement to help close funding shortfalls.