The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), which is the primary public transportation provider for Los Angeles County, has honed its service ability based on past experiences, LA Metro chief operating officer Conan Cheung told CNA.
This includes Taylor Swift’s six shows at the SoFi Stadium in 2023, the yearly Rose Bowl and Rose Parade, as well as regular Major League Baseball and NFL games.
“They gave us a great opportunity to understand where we need to improve, and also to test out new strategies and methods and tools,” Mr Cheung said.
Unlike many other cities in the US, which have been in the headlines for expensive transport offerings, it is quite the opposite in LA.
Public transport fares will remain at their normal rate of US$1.75, with the LA Metro working with regional transit partners to increase services.
Apart from park-and-ride options, commuters can take the Metro bus, rail, or regional transport to a direct service pick-up location, where they can then board buses to the stadium.
These buses will generally run every 10 minutes, with one free transfer included if transferring from LA Metro bus or rail.
Mr Cheung said keeping things accessible and affordable was critical. “We want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to go and experience the games,” he added.
LA Metro will utilise about 300 additional buses to provide these services, about a 15 per cent increase from their normal fleet of 2,000, and also ramp up their staffing on the ground.
“We know that a lot of times people will come out because they just want to experience the World Cup even though they may not have tickets, so we need to make sure we accommodate all those additional people,” said Mr Cheung.
“At the same time, we need to make sure that we continue to provide quality service for our regular riders trying to go to work or school or whatnot.”
Speaking to CNA, Dr Joshua Schank, a senior fellow at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, said that big US cities are often “more prepared than you think they are” when it comes to the transport aspect of large-scale events.
“There’s a lot of capacity in our transport system here to handle an influx of a large number of people,” he said. “People in LA are used to planning their lives around big events, and around traffic in general, so I think the city can adjust pretty well.”
However, he added that what could be a possible pain point for those who arrive in Los Angeles for the World Cup could be LAX.
“Compared to most major airports in the world, LAX has a very meagre transit network, so public transit options are very limited,” said Dr Schank.
“The challenge for people with LAX is that it’s just incredibly overwhelming.”