Water taxis, Flying taxis, and more stories

A Metro Board committee has signed off on plans to implement a water taxi service between San Pedro and Long Beach during the 2028 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn announced this week. Long Beach is slated to host 11 different sports during the games, and the connection to San Pedro could offer a connection to patrons of Metro's J Line.

“If we are serious about people taking transit to every Olympic event, we need to get creative. The water taxi’s time has come. It would offer residents, workers, and tourists an alternative to driving and parking at the Games venues that’s not only reliable and affordable, but fun as well,” said Hahn in a statement. “It’s time to explore what it would take to get this idea off the ground and into the water.” 

This of course is not the only type of unconventional transportation mode slated to be used during the games.

Archer Aviation has announced that it will serve as (not a joke) "Official Air Taxi Provider" of the 2028 Olympic Games.

The company indicates that flights will take 10-to-20 minutes, departing from "veritports" near major event venues such as SoFi Stadium and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as well as at other hubs such as LAX, Hollywood, Oragne County, and Santa Monica.

The Los Angeles Times reports a company representative compared the expected cost to a "high-end ride share like Uber Lux." 

Here's what we're reading this week:

I rode the new Rail-to-Rail bike path before the opening celebrations this Saturday, May 17: Here’s a sneak peek! "The 5.5-mile path stretches eastward from the communities surrounding the K Line Fairview Heights Station in Inglewood to the A Line’s Slauson Station. Along the way, it intersects with the J Line at Slauson and the 110, as well as the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Hyde Park, Chesterfield Square, Harvard Park, Vermont-Slauson, South Park, and Central Alameda, as well as unincorporated Florence-Graham." (The Source)

Metro Operations Committee Approves Lyft Bike-Share Contract "The Metro Operations Committee unanimously approved a five-year $200M contract with Lyft to operate Metro Bike Share" (Streetsblog LA)

City to Create Affordable Housing Trust Fund "The council discussed the creation of a Local Housing Trust Fund (LHTF) for the production and preservation of affordable housing in Culver City. LHTF funds can be used for new construction of affordable rental and homeownership units, preservation or rehabilitation of rental and homeownership units, acquisition of vacant land or dilapidated properties, and emergency repairs on homeownership properties that have code violations." (Culver City Crossroads)

Metro Expands Bus Lane Automated Ticketing to Olive/Grand in DTLA "Never park in a bus-only lane. Never park at a bus stop." (Streetsblog LA)

L.A. taxpayers spending $600K to combat already-approved housing in Venice "The city is facing a lawsuit over alleged obstruction by city officials, specifically Councilmember Traci Park and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto, both of whom were elected in 2022 and oppose the project." (KTLA)

California sues over Trump policy tying transportation grants to immigration "California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed two lawsuits on Tuesday challenging a Trump administration policy that would deny the state billions of dollars in transportation grants unless it follows the administration’s lead on immigration enforcement." (LA Times)

Court auditors say LA homelessness services are 'extremely broken' "The city is under various court-enforced agreements to create more shelter for unhoused people, but the auditors have been unable to verify the number of beds the city claims to have created to comply with those agreements..." (LAist)

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