Los Angeles plans to encourage remote work and non-standard working hours to prevent traffic chaos during the 2028 Summer Olympics, the city’s mayor said on Saturday.

In a news conference in Paris ahead of Sunday’s closing ceremony, Karen Bass reiterated plans for a “no car” Olympics, in which spectators will use public transportation to reach venues across the sprawling metropolis. 

“We’re going to need over 3,000 buses,” Bass said, adding that Los Angeles will borrow them from cities across the US.

In 1984, when the Southern California city hosted the Games for the second time, then-mayor Tom Bradley staggered work hours to cut down on traffic congestion. Bass said LA can do the same again.  

“The way that it should work is to meet with the city’s major employers and to talk about staggering work hours,” Bass said, noting that the effort four decades ago was achieved with far less technology than is currently available. 

“I do think that there might be some employers that we would ask, ‘Could you be remote for 17 days?’” she said, adding that so-called essential workers would be exempt, as they were during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Los Angeles 2028 Chairman Casey Wasserman said that “hundreds” of staffers and partners, including government officials, have been in Paris during the past two weeks to observe “what it really takes to deliver a world-class Olympic Games.”

Sunday’s closing ceremony will showcase Los Angeles artists including the rapper Snoop Dogg, as well as a passing of the Olympic flag from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to Bass — the first time the symbolic exchange has featured two women. 

“We will be sending a message to girls all across the world that they can do anything — they can run for the gold and they can run for office,” Bass said.

Tackling Homelessness

The Los Angeles Olympics are being cast as an opportunity to benefit the city’s roughly 4 million residents, and Bass said she plans to ensure participation by small businesses so that they receive some economic benefits.  

As the clock ticks toward the next summer Games, 88 cities within Los Angeles County are already working together to address homelessness, according to the mayor. 

“We are going to get Angelenos housed,” she said. “We will get people housed, we’ll get them off the street, we will get them into temporary housing, address the reasons why they were unhoused and get them into permanent housing.”

Starting Monday, the focus will shift to delivery after almost seven years of planning, Wasserman said. “We are no longer on deck, we are in the batter’s box and ready to go.” 

Los Angeles 2028 may be able to exceed the record attendance achieved in Paris, where more than 9.5 million tickets were sold. “We have the opportunity to sell significantly more tickets than Paris did,” Wasserman said. “We don’t have an Eiffel Tower, but we’ve got a Hollywood sign, we’ve got incredible venues.” 

The LA Games budget, previously projected to be $6.8 billion, will be refreshed by year-end, Wasserman said. “We feel very good about where we are today, and it’s our job to stay really diligent.”

The 2028 Olympics will add flag football, squash, lacrosse, baseball, softball and – perhaps most significantly – cricket, potentially drawing a wider global audience. 

“There are 1.5 billion people for whom cricket is what makes the sun rise and sun set every day, and they’re going to be paying attention to the Olympics like they never have,” said Wasserman. –BLOOMBERG