Can bike lanes reinvent car-crazy Los Angeles?

From busy freeways to classic car street racing, Los Angeles has long been considered the capital of American car culture. Can it be changed during the Olympics?

With clear skies almost year-round, Los Angeles is said to be an ideal place for biking.

“It's the perfect community for running, biking and outdoor activities, but in general we're fascinated by vehicles, fascinated by the need for speed,” Streets for Everyone (Safety) executive director Damian Kevitt )explain.

But until recently, the roads were dominated by cars, not pedestrians or cyclists.

Los Angeles covers more than 460 square miles (1,200 square kilometers) and is known for its relentless expansion and traffic congestion.

While cities like New York and Boston have embraced public transit, in Los Angeles it has never fully caught on—only about 7% of Angelenos take public transit to work, Neighborhood data for social change.

Despite the weather in Los Angeles that would make any Amsterdam cyclist green with envy, only about 1% of people cycle to work.

But with hundreds of thousands of spectators expected to travel to the city for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, steps must be taken to make the city more accessible.

Los Angeles passed the “28 by 28” transportation plan in 2017 to expand public transportation options ahead of the Summer Olympics. Since then, miles and miles of new bike trails have been popping up.

Mr Cavett said: “This is long overdue.”

In 2013, Covert lost a leg when he was hit by a car while riding his bike in Griffith Park. Covert believes that once streets become safer and bike lanes are better connected, more people will commute using their own bikes or rentable Metro bikes. other.

In 2024, Los Angeles voters overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure requiring the city to build more bike lanes and more walkable, livable spaces in Los Angeles.

But will car-loving Angelenos embrace bike culture? Some actively opposed the changes, complaining that the bike lanes would only worsen car traffic in the City of Stars.

“What do you mean we voted for it? Not here! Not me!” said Darin Drabing, president and CEO of Forest Lawn Cemetery, who is fighting a bike lane near the cemetery because he Thinking it would increase traffic during his commute and funeral.

“Everywhere I've seen it implemented, they've failed,” he said. “All it does is increase traffic congestion and people's frustration.”

Some do fail.

While protected bike lanes have transformed Olympic host cities like Paris and London, politicians are currently trying to tear down Toronto's bike lanes, which have been part of the city's streets for nearly a decade (and they're being replaced by cyclists sue to stop the scheme).

In Los Angeles County, the city of Glendale recently voted to eliminate some bike lanes after people complained about increased traffic.

New protected bike lanes are causing trouble along Hollywood Boulevard, with car traffic now limited to one lane in each direction for miles. But it also leads to others occasionally commuting by bike instead of driving.

Cyclist Mimi Holt used to ride her bike in Seattle, but gave up riding for nearly 20 years because of concerns about speeding on Los Angeles' busy streets.

“It's scary how fast people drive in Los Angeles,” she said.

When her doctor told her she was prediabetic, she decided to venture out onto the road to get more exercise, saying she feels much younger since getting back on two wheels.

She said she can't wait for the city's “islands of bike paths” to be connected.

“If there was a connecting road, I would be on the road all the time,” Ms. Holt said, adding that if it was safe to bike anywhere in Los Angeles, she would get rid of her car.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says the city and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Committee are making huge progress toward a “transportation-first” Olympics, as she calls it, after she was criticized for advocating for a “car-free” Olympics. “The Olympic Games caused controversy.

But with more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) of bike lanes planned, advocates worry the process is taking too long.

So far, only five of the “Twenty-Eight in '28” projects have been completed, with 23 more in progress, and not all are expected to be completed in time for the Olympics.

Los Angeles has received $900m (£717m) from the Biden administration, mainly to help with rail projects. But by 2028, more will be needed to realize the city's transportation dreams.

The mayor of Bass and other city leaders have sent a letter to the Trump transition team requesting $3.2 billion in federal funding for “the largest and most spectacular sporting event in American history.”

President Trump supported Los Angeles' bid for the Olympics during his first term as president and told officials not to forget to invite him.

Mayor Bass said they have not yet responded to the letter, but she said that while President-elect Trump and other California political leaders such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Relations were often tense, but she hoped President-elect Trump would be supportive.

Some people, like Ms. Holt, like the idea of ​​giving up their cars for a variety of reasons.

“I can barely afford a car. Insurance is really expensive, gas is really expensive, and it's not good for the environment,” Ms. Holt said at a meeting to look at proposed bike lanes across Los Angeles.

Yet while many Angelenos rely on public transportation to get to work and school, many others who live here have never ridden a bus or venture onto the underground subway, which the media often depicts as a crime-ridden and dystopian place.

Many locals think the idea of ​​a car-free Olympics is ridiculous.

“It's a wonderful dream,” said Burbank resident Shivon Ozinga, who opposes adding bike lanes near her neighborhood. She said the city is too big, too sprawling and car-dependent to change.

“Given the car culture we have here, I can't imagine that happening on such a short notice.”

But Mayor Bass can imagine a transportation revolution and said she believes transportation changes in Los Angeles will last beyond the Olympics and the 2026 World Cup.

“As a cyclist, I certainly hope so,” she said.