As you’ve likely heard, the Summer Olympics and Paralympics are coming to the Los Angeles region in 2028. Many people have asked what our transit system might look like 11 years from now — so we published a blog post in August that got a lot of interest. We’ve since turned the post into the video above with the help of my videographer colleagues, Joe Lemon and Murillo Goncalves. Bon appetit!

Today also happens to be the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Measure M sales tax measure by 71 percent of L.A. County voters. All of the projects above are funded by Measures M and R, which voters approved in 2008. With or without the Olympics, the decision by local residents to tax themselves to greatly expand transit is, I think, a pretty great thing and, as a result of both ballot measures, there’s no shortage of projects.

Many Olympic events (here’s a map) will be clustered in a few areas around our region, with three major “sports parks” adjacent to rail or bus rapid transit lines in downtown Los Angeles, the Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley and the Long Beach waterfront. Other venues are also near transit (Santa Monica Beach, the Rose Bowl, the new football stadium in Inglewood, StubHub Center, to name a few) or will be served by shuttle buses from transit and other destinations. Getting around the Games should actually be fairly easy.

We included projects in the video based on the timeline in the Measure M spending plan. As we say at the end of the video, there are efforts underway by Metro to accelerate other transit projects, most notably the Sepulveda Transit Corridor and the West Santa Ana Branch Corridor. Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Eric Garcetti has also spoken about an effort to build 28 local projects by 2028 and has said details on that plan will be forthcoming.

So there’s a lot to be excited about. But here’s the thing I cannot stress enough: in the next few years the projects in the video will be going through the environmental clearance phase. That is the public’s chance to weigh in about project alternatives, routes and station location. Lend your voice to these efforts. These aren’t Metro’s projects. These are your projects. You’re paying for them. Get involved.

As projects take shape we’ll do our best on this blog and Metro’s social media channels o keep you informed and let you know how to submit your views.

Please feel free as always to comment or ask questions about the projects and I’ll try to answer them the best that I can. Thanks!

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