Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced an ambitious plan when her city hosts the summer Olympics in four years and it could be the recipe for an epic mess.
The former Democrat congresswoman is aiming to make the 2028 contests a “no-car games” by requiring attendees to use public transportation to get to and from events during the two-week period when the global spotlight will be on the City of Angels.
“That’s a feat in Los Angeles — we’ve always been in love with our cars,” Bass said at a Saturday news conference in Paris where she was attending the closing ceremony for this year’s games, adding that attendees “will have to take public transportation to get to all the venues.”
Game on.
See you in 2028!@LA28 #NextUpLA28 pic.twitter.com/kni0OdcD1y
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) August 12, 2024
“We’re already working to create jobs by expanding our public transportation system in order for us to have a no-car Games,” the Mayor added. “And that’s a feat for Los Angeles, as we’ve always been in love with our cars. We’re working to ensure that we can build a greener Los Angeles.”
The sprawling Southern California city is home to around four million people with millions more living in the surrounding areas, most of whom are dependent on their vehicles with the area notorious for its traffic jams.
(Video Credit: ABC7)
The mayor plans to compensate for the city’s inadequate public transportation fleet by borrowing 3,000 buses from across the country.
Bass also said that reaching out to the city’s big employers as partners is going to be critical to minimize gridlock.
“The way it should work is to meet with the city’s major employers and talk about staggering work hours, which is something that was done 40 years ago when we had no tech, no cellphones, no personal computers,” Bass said. “There might be some employers that we would say, ‘Could you be remote for 17 days?’”
“We also certainly learned from COVID that we do have essential workers, people that must come to work. But if you limit it to that, it’s going to be a lot easier,” Bass added, acknowledging that some workers won’t be able to work remotely. “People will have some reference point in recent history as to how to get to that.”
Bass’s plan to make her city into an international showcase for leftist leadership had its share of skeptics on X.
It’s going to be a shit show.
— TWEETO BANDITO (@DjptrsnMana) August 10, 2024
Keep coming up with stupid ideas like this and the 2028 olympic games might be PEOPLE-FREE too.
— Me (@Keefer1958) August 11, 2024
That’s not going to work in Los Angeles
— Scriptyze (@Scriptyze) August 10, 2024
Is there some sort of award for Stupidest Political Buffoon Idea? ~
— FauxyFoxSATIRE (@FauxyFoxSATIRE) August 11, 2024
Hey, have you longed for more machete-wielding rapey hobos? Come to LA & be sure to ride our 3rd world transportation!
Want a contact high but can’t afford fent?
Ride the bus or Metro in LA, where the fumes will do wonders!— Kim v. Newsom: Trophy Wife! (@1TrophyWife1) August 11, 2024
What kind of drugs do you have to be on to think this is possible?
— spudboy (@spudboy1234) August 11, 2024
“As we’ve seen here in Paris, the Olympics are an opportunity to make transformative change,” Bass said. “It’s our top priority to ensure that the Olympic preparations benefit Angelenos for decades to come… We want to make sure that we’re helping small local businesses, that we’re creating local jobs and making lasting environmental and transportation improvements throughout Los Angeles.”
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