RELEASE: After World Cup, Reps. Friedman, Chu, Lieu, & Kamlager-Dove Convene LA’s Transportation Leaders on Olympic Readiness

Above: Rep. Friedman, Waters, Chu, Lieu, and Kamlager-Dove on the dais at today's panel.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - Today, August 26, 2026, U.S. Congresswoman Laura Friedman (CA-30) convened a panel of the region's top transportation officials alongside U.S. Representatives Maxine Waters (CA-43), Judy Chu (CA-28), Ted Lieu (CA-36), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) to examine what the 2026 FIFA World Cup revealed about Los Angeles County's readiness to move millions of people during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The panel came just weeks before Congress decides how much federal funding Los Angeles gets for the Games.

The panel brought together the agencies that run public transit across the region:

• LA Metro Chief Customer Experience Officer Jennifer Vides, who spoke to what the agency needs to move visitors across dozens of venues over sixteen days, including the buses, operators, and storage capacity a Games-scale operation requires and the capital projects Metro is working to finish before 2028.
• Los Angeles Department of Transportation General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo, who runs the second largest municipal transportation department in the country and is delivering street and transit improvements before 2028, including an additional zero-emissions bus maintenance facility.
• City of Santa Monica Department of Transportation Director Anuj Gupta, who oversees the Big Blue Bus and a department of more than 470 employees in a city that will host no Olympic venues but will be the site of at least a dozen nation houses.
• LA Metro Chief of Police and Emergency Management Bill Scott, who led Metro's security coordination during the World Cup and is standing up the agency's new in-house Transit Community Public Safety Department while preparing for the 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Games.

"The World Cup proved that Los Angeles can deliver, but eight matches at one stadium over five weeks is not the same as sixteen days of events at dozens of venues across the region," said Congresswoman Laura Friedman (CA-30). "The agencies responsible for moving those visitors have never had to work at that scale together. So, we brought them into one room to tell Congress what they need to pull this off, and when they need it because the window for that closes in weeks, not years. I am going to keep fighting to bring our tax dollars home, and to make sure what this region builds for 2028 is still serving Angelenos long after the Games leave town."

"The American Decade of Sports is an opportunity for Los Angeles to shine bright on the world stage while leaving our region better than fans found it," said Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove (CA-37). "Hosting successful games and delivering lasting benefits for our community starts with investing in our transportation infrastructure. The 2026 World Cup was the ultimate test run for the 2028 Olympics, and convenings like today help us learn from the past so we can build a safer, more accessible, and better-connected LA long after the Olympic flame is extinguished."

WHAT THE WORLD CUP SHOWED:

• More than 212,000 rides were taken on Metro's enhanced bus service to and from SoFi Stadium at $1.75 each way.
• Enhanced service included direct shuttles connecting the stadium to 15 transit hubs across Southern California.
• June system ridership was 2 million riders higher than last June, with Metro recording its highest single-day ridership of the month on June 18.
• Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins has said there were zero major security incidents during the tournament.

WHAT THE 2028 GAMES REQUIRE:

• Metro has requested approximately $2 billion for its Games mobility plan. Congress approved only $94.3 million earlier this year.
• The House Appropriations Committee approved $875 million for the request in its FY27 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill. This has not been signed into law and falls short of what Los Angeles will need to make the games safe and secure.
• The President's FY27 budget request did not include funding.
• Metro needs approximately 1,700 additional buses against a current fleet of roughly 2,100, and has secured roughly half of that total to date.
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires September 30, 2026.
• Metro has publicly stated that without the full request, the complete scope of the Games Enhanced Transit System would not be feasible.

In February 2026, Rep. Kamlager-Dove led 36 members of the California delegation, including Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urging the Administration to include Metro's request in the President's FY27 budget request. The letter warned that FY27 was likely the region's final opportunity to get the investments in place in time for the Games.

Friedman serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Friedman was joined today by Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43), Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36), Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman, LA Metro Chief Innovation Officer Seleta Reynolds, Los Angeles Department of Transportation General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo, City of Santa Monica Department of Transportation Director Anuj Gupta, and LA Metro Chief of Police and Emergency Management Bill Scott.

Below: Members of Congress and panelists at today's event answer and asking questions.

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