'Next Host City' Los Angeles Seeking Lessons from Paris... Traffic Issues [Paris Olympics]

US Medalists Share Olympic Participation Experiences
LA Faces Chronic Traffic Congestion, Raising Concerns Over Athlete Mobility
City Likely to Urge Residents and Businesses to Limit Outings and Encourage Remote Work

As the 2024 Paris Olympics come to a close, attention is turning to Los Angeles, the host city for the next Olympics. The organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are looking into the experiences of Paris, France, as they prepare for a successful event.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Janet Evans, Chief Athlete Officer of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, recently told the Associated Press that they are listening closely to the voices of the athletes participating in the Olympics. Although Los Angeles is hosting the Olympics for the third time after 1932 and 1984, it is preparing for a global event again after more than 40 years, and it appears they are striving to prepare meticulously.

Evans is a medalist who competed as a U.S. Olympic swimmer, winning gold medals in the 400m individual medley and 800m freestyle at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, gold in the 800m freestyle and silver in the 400m freestyle at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She emphasized, "I competed in three Olympics and lived in the Olympic Village, so understanding what athletes experience is really important."

Evans mentioned the uncomfortable beds, hot athlete village without air conditioning, and poor meals that were issues at the Paris Olympics. She explained, "In Los Angeles, athletes will stay on the UCLA campus, so these problems will not arise." She added, "(At UCLA) thousands of students eat and stay every day. It has already been tested," and said, "I also eat there at least once a week, and the food is really delicious. I can guarantee it."

Janet Evans, Chief Athlete Officer of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee [Photo by Reuters]

The biggest anticipated issue for the Los Angeles Olympics is severe traffic congestion. There are significant concerns that athlete transportation could be problematic in Los Angeles, which suffers from chronic traffic jams.

In response, Evans explained that they plan to provide a service to personally transport athletes who finish their events late at night, and during the Olympics, one lane of the road will be designated as an 'Olympic lane' to allow athletes to move quickly. They also plan to encourage Southern California businesses to promote remote work during this period.

Traffic congestion was also an issue during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. At that time, the city authorities asked citizens to limit going out, which somewhat alleviated the traffic jams. The city plans to make a similar request to citizens this time as well.

However, there are concerns about whether such requests will be effective given the reduced overall interest in the Olympics compared to the past. Additionally, since large-scale events require huge expenditures, finding ways to offset costs is important. If citizens are asked to limit outings, local economic spending could be hit, potentially offsetting the increased tourism revenue.

Due to these cost concerns, Los Angeles was selected as the host city for the 2028 Summer Olympics in 2017 without any competing cities. Los Angeles was evaluated as a suitable city for hosting the Olympics because, through its previous two Olympics, it has sufficient hotels to accommodate 10,000 athletes and millions of spectators, as well as sports facilities capable of hosting 300 events.