{"id":49012,"date":"2025-09-23T16:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T23:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/?post_type=from_the_experts&p=49012"},"modified":"2025-10-08T14:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T21:58:09","slug":"la-should-go-for-the-gold-when-it-comes-to-electric-transit-buses","status":"publish","type":"from_the_experts","link":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/experts\/candice-youngblood\/la-should-go-for-the-gold-when-it-comes-to-electric-transit-buses","title":{"rendered":"LA Should Go for the Gold When It Comes to Electric Transit Buses"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Olympics are returning to Los Angeles in 2028, and while the city works to rebuild homes lost in the January wildfires and ready itself for the international spotlight, it\u2019s worth considering what\u2019ll be different in the 44 years since the last time Los Angeles hosted the Olympics. In 1984, the LA Olympics were marked by a Cold War Soviet boycott, a modest downtown LA skyline, an obsession with jet packs in the opening ceremony, and smog — so much smog.<\/p>\n

\"Bill

Bill Suitor uses a jetpack to hover over the opening ceremony for the 1984 Olympic Games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Steve Powell \/ Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The women\u2019s marathon made its debut in the 1984 Games, and athletes made their way through 26 grueling miles breathing a smoggy soup. While Los Angeles has since made great wins cleaning our air, every year the American Lung Association hands our region a failing\u00a0\u201cF\u201d grade<\/a>, like a disappointed teacher who knows we\u2019re not giving our best.<\/p>\n

Two generations later, we\u2019re still the smog capital of the United States.<\/p>\n

\"An

An aerial view of LA’s smoggy air quality in 1985. (Ernst Haas \/ Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s one key way Los Angeles can show up well on the international stage come 2028: electric transit buses. Why electric transit buses? They\u2019re better for our health and our climate. Emissions from combustion buses are not only bad for our planet, they\u2019re bad for our lungs. Tailpipe exhaust from buses rolling through communities contributes to air pollution that causes asthma, bronchitis, cancer, and even early death. Public transit riders are especially at risk with this kind of pollution from dated models.<\/p>\n

Right now LA Metro has electrified just 3.5% of its bus fleet, so the region has miles to go in making the big shift to modern vehicles. It\u2019s on course to have a mere 12% electrified by the time Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Games.<\/p>\n

But LA Metro is an agency that can do big things. In the 1990s, the agency was the\u00a0first major transit agency\u00a0in the U.S. to retire\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0of its diesel buses<\/a>. It\u2019s the second largest transit agency in the country, and it\u2019s made great strides to help shift car-centric Los Angeles back to public transit.<\/p>\n

\"An

An all-electric bus in Los Angeles, Jan. 12, 2021. (Ringo Chiu via AP)<\/p><\/div>\n

Consider that all recent Olympic host cities electrified at least half their bus fleets before they hosted the Olympics: Tokyo, Beijing, and Paris. Milan, which will host the 2026 Winter Games next year, is electrifying half their bus fleet. Brisbane is setting an ambitious course for the 2032 Summer Games too. The LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games have committed to being \u201ctransit-first\u201d games: imagine if the residents and visitors being ferried to and from events are on modern, quiet, clean electric transit buses.<\/p>\n

To keep pace with the rest of the world, LA Metro needs to electrify 1,175 transit buses in its fleet. It can begin to make headway with a bold procurement and charging infrastructure buildout plan this year.<\/p>\n

The public health savings from the shift will be significant:\u00a0LA Metro projects<\/a>\u00a0that in Los Angeles County, a transition to a zero-emission bus fleet will deliver $223 million in public health benefits between 2025 and 2050. Not to mention they\u2019re a boon for the local economy: manufacturing electric buses and installing charging infrastructure creates good jobs for working families in the region.<\/p>\n

Young Angelenos who dream of being future athletes need clean air. Los Angeles is an exceptionally strong case for the benefits of cleaning its air: when the region engineered a steep decline in air pollution in the mid-1990s, kids\u2019 lung strength grew by over 10%<\/a> according to\u00a0extensive research\u00a0from the University of Southern California. That improved lung strength follows children through the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

\"American

American runner Carl Lewis takes center stage at the 1984 LA Olympics. (Pool PERRIN \/ TARDY \/ Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Buses are the people\u2019s vehicle: not everyone can afford a car, but buses grant everyone mobility. They\u2019re often how kids get to school, workers get to their jobs, and the elderly get to medical appointments. Electric buses are quiet, reducing noise impacts in our neighborhoods and delivering better experiences for riders and drivers. Let\u2019s give the people the best ride possible.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles deserves a legacy that gives back to the city long after the 2028 Games pass, and we don\u2019t want a stadium: we want a modern transit system. The Olympics should leave a legacy for Angelenos — and nothing would be better than a breath of fresh air and the quiet hum of a modern electric bus fleet.<\/p>\n

\"The

The smoggy opening ceremony for the LA 1984 Olympics. (Steve Powell \/ Getty Images Sport)<\/p><\/div>\n

The 1984 Games were the first profitable games in Olympics history. They generated $200 million\u00a0and heavily relied on existing city infrastructure and facilities. Los Angeles made the games work for Los Angeles, and we can do it again.<\/p>\n

The 2028 Games are expected to bring roughly 700,000 additional transit bus riders to the region during the time of year when our air quality is the worst. With less than three years until LA 2028, there\u2019s no time to wait. Los Angeles can go for the gold by building its fleet of electric transit buses. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the LA 2028 Olympics looming, LA Metro should keep pace with Olympic cities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49013,"template":"","tags":[144,123,143,133,146],"language":[179],"offices":[34],"cases":[],"goals":[31,32],"ppma_author":[1286],"class_list":["post-49012","from_the_experts","type-from_the_experts","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-air","tag-clean-air-act","tag-clean-energy","tag-climate-change","tag-right-to-zero","language-english","offices-california-office","goals-air-and-water","goals-clean-energy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/from_the_experts\/49012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/from_the_experts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/from_the_experts"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49012"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=49012"},{"taxonomy":"offices","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/offices?post=49012"},{"taxonomy":"cases","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cases?post=49012"},{"taxonomy":"goals","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/goals?post=49012"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=49012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}