There is perhaps no better example of the age-old adage that elections have consequences than the city of Los Angeles. Los Angeles has been governed exclusively by one political party for decades. Los Angeles is also a city with rising crime, declining quality of life, and one of the worst homelessness problems in the country.
Los Angeles is also the next host of the 2028 Olympics, and considering how difficult it is to get around even in Paris, where traffic is so heavy, LA’s traffic is likely to become unbearable. But the city’s fearless, left-leaning mayor, Karen Bass, has a plan to deal with it: force everyone to use public transportation. Ah yes, Los Angeles’ famous public transportation network! Brilliant!
On Saturday, Bass said she wants to host a “car-free games” in the city in 2028, where visitors would be forced to use the virtually defunct subways and buses. Bass’ brilliant plan involves borrowing more than 3,000 buses from other cities across the country, literally.
“This is an achievement in Los Angeles – we have always been in love with our cars,” Bass said at a press conference in Paris. The athlete. “But we are already working to create a greener Los Angeles.
“The way it should work is that we meet with the largest employers in the city and talk about staggered hours, the way it was done 40 years ago – when we had no technology, no cell phones, no PCs,” she continued. “There might be some employers to whom we would say, ‘Could you work from home for 17 days?'”
If you’re wondering why things are so bad in LA, these are the people they keep electing.
July 27, 2024; Nanterre, France; Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and First Lady Jill Biden chat in the arena before the first night of semifinal and final runs during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris at the Paris La Défense Arena. Mandatory Photo Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Car-free Olympic Games in Los Angeles: One of the worst ideas in human history
Los Angeles is ideal for exploring by car because of its enormous size. Los Angeles County is 20% larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
Public transit works well in metropolitan areas like Manhattan, Paris, or London. But it doesn’t work in a region the size of Connecticut. But because LA is governed by a political party that has lost touch with reality, it is trying to expand the Los Angeles subway system. At a huge cost, with declining ridership, limited connections, and mediocre travel times.
Some events will be in Long Beach, some in the valley, and some in downtown LA. Inglewood will also host some events. These destinations are 20 to 30 miles apart. A 30-mile bus ride with stops could take well over an hour, if not significantly longer. It’s insane.
Yes, LA’s traffic is terrible. And yes, getting from one Olympic venue to another will be more difficult than in other cities. But that’s what happens when you have notoriously bad traffic and you’re bidding to host the damn Olympics. You can’t spend two or three weeks reorganizing the transportation of an entire city and mega-region just because you live in a fantasy world and think it’s solving climate change or something equally incomprehensible.
And as always, if there is a bad idea, Los Angeles will find a way to implement it.
