‘No-car Games’: Los Angeles readies for its 2028 Olympics closeup

As the Olympics came to a close this weekend, stars gathered from Paris to Long Beach to help mark the end of this year’s events and usher in the 2028 games, which are set to take place in Los Angeles.

In a closing ceremony this weekend, the R&B artist HER sang the national anthem in Paris where Tom Cruise rappelled from the roof of the Stade de France and the actor, Simone Biles and the LA mayor, Karen Bass, took part in a flag hand-off. In southern California, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Snoop Dogg performed on the beach.

“This is the biggest moment in LA28 history to date, as the Olympic flag passes from Paris to LA,” Casey Wasserman, the LA28 chairperson and president, said in a statement .

Bass and other city and county officials attended the Games in Paris as part of the preparation for the 2028 Olympics.

Los Angeles will host the Games for a third time in July 2028 – having previously held events in 1932 and 1984. The city has been preparing for years, adding thousands of hotel rooms, modifying existing venues for the games and expanding transit options.

Transit is a key element of the city’s planning, and Bass has said that the 2028 Olympics will be “ no-car Games ”.

“We’re already working to create jobs by expanding our public transportation system in order for us to have a no-car Games,” Bass said. “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 city plans to borrow 3,000 buses for the Games and public transportation will be the only way to access Olympic venues in LA, Bass said. The mayor also plans to ask major employers in the city to allow employees to work remotely during the Games.

With the Games set to bring thousands of people from around the world to Los Angeles, the city is under even greater pressure to make headway in addressing homelessness. In Paris, officials relocated thousands of people living on the streets in the lead-up to the Olympics.

There are more than 45,000 unhoused people in Los Angeles, according to city’s Homeless Services Authority, and more than 75,000 unhoused people across the county .

Los Angeles has a far higher rate of people living on the streets compared to other major US cities, but Bass said she was working to address the issue.

“We will get people housed. We will get them off the street. We will get them into temporary housing, address the reason why they were unhoused and get them into permanent housing.”

• The Associated Press contributed