After Taylor Swift and Beyoncé tested the L.A. area’s capacity to host large crowds of people descending on the area, Metro officials on Wednesday said upgrading the region's transit system ahead of the Olympics is a main priority.
Officials estimate that 360,000 people a day will attend events during the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.
“I can see that there’s a tremendous amount of work to do,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Karen Bass.
During Swift’s unprecedented six-night visit, Metro added bus and shuttle services from stations, LAX parking lots, and hotels to SoFi Stadium. Late-night rail service was expanded and stops were noted with event specific signs like, “Taylor Nation Station” and “Speak Now Station.”
The result of those efforts? Metro reported a 25% increase in ridership, with shuttles carrying more than 200,000 people to rails and buses. The K, C, A and E lines saw significant ridership increases.
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Some of those takeaways influenced the Mobility Concept Plan designed for the Olympics and Paralympics, which will prioritize expanding existing metro lines, such as the A, E and Purple lines, to ensure underserved residents have access. They also point to the importance of improving line reliability, late hours, adding track crossovers, regional connectors and thematic signage to help L.A. newbies navigate the games that will be staged throughout three SoCal counties.
As for the roadways, despite 8% of Swift concertgoers relying on public transportation, the remainder took cars, creating traffic bottlenecking throughout the city. The committee noted, however, that the Olympics will be a different event. Committee member Ara Najarian recalled the city’s 1984 Olympics that transpired throughout the day as opposed to an evening concert.
“It might not be that intense crush that we had with Taylor and Beyoncé,” he added.
Metro concluded that availability of onsite staging areas separate from SoFi Stadium, traffic control measures, and availability of staff to ensure dependable transit services and prioritize customer safety will be needed to establish public transit as a more attractive alternative to driving during the Games.
