Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published July 25, 2023 6:00 AM
Aleyssa Coleman, 18, a senior at Palmdale High School, sits in the driver's seat on July 21, 2023.
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Julie Leopo
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Topline:
Almost every year since 2015, Palmdale High School students have built a solar car and competed in a national race against other high schools. We followed the team’s journey this year and spoke with alums of the program, which many describe as an invigorating and life-altering experience.
The backstory: Over the years, Palmdale High School students have dealt with faulty writes, blown fuses, even a car catching fire back in 2018. Plus, they’ve persevered through persistent funding challenges faced by California public schools.
What’s new this year? Organizers canceled the Solar Car Challenge competition early, which started in Fort Worth, Texas, for the first time in three decades after more than a dozen staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
A lasting impact: Several Palmdale High School graduates are now engineers. “That was just probably one of the best experiences that I've ever had in my life,” said Oscar Guzman, a 2015 graduate and former solar car team member. “It really defined what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Only one team made it to the final city in this year’s national multi-state high school solar car race.
Listen
4:03
LISTEN: Palmdale High School’s Solar Car Team Keeps Rolling
Palmdale High School students pushed their car onto campus Friday, marking the end of a race cut short. Last-minute technical problems scuttled the team’s plans to drive the car across the unofficial finish line.
“We got first place, right?” one student joked.
It was an unexpected ending to an unusual race. A COVID-19 outbreak among the competition’s coordinators ended the 2023 Solar Car Challenge three days into a weeklong contest from Fort Worth, Texas to Palmdale. It was the first time in three decades the competition had been cut short.
“I was so tired many times,” said senior driver EJ Dela Cruz, recalling the challenges the high school team faced. “But just working on that car, wanting to succeed, just really turned me into something different.”
The Palmdale High School Solar Falcon race team gathers in a circle and cheers after unloading the Helios Falcon solar car on July 21, 2023.
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Since their first race in 2015, the Antelope Valley team has finished the Solar Car Challenge every year except 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.
It’s no small feat: Over the years, they’ve dealt with faulty wires, blown fuses and even a car catching fire mid-race back in 2018. Plus, persistent funding challenges faced by California public schools.
Assistant Principal Chris Andrews says the challenges have led to valuable lessons for the students.
“Ultimately it's about perseverance,” he said.
Alumni of the program agree. Several Palmdale High School graduates, who are now engineers themselves, can still describe the technical details of building the car as if they happened yesterday rather than nearly a decade ago.
“That was just probably one of the best experiences that I've ever had in my life,” said Oscar Guzman, a 2015 Palmdale grad and former solar car team member. “It really defined what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
The Solar Falcons origin story
Palmdale’s solar car team is embedded in the school’s Engineering Academy as a class to ensure students receive academic credit and teachers get paid for their work. The school-within-a-school evolved from vocational education classes like automotive mechanics and construction. The program is one of Antelope Valley Union High School District’s 10 academies, which also include concentrations in health care, multimedia, film and video.
“Our jobs as public educators are in order to be able to prepare students for all of those options and choices not within the high school,” said Betsy McKinstry, district director of Career Tech Ed.
Students in the Engineering Academy work in a room that used to be an automotive shop. Sweeping garage doors lead to a classroom where students learn how to use computer-aided design software, laser cutters and 3-D printers.
“In engineering, a lot of it is actually building things that you're going to test,” said Ruben Rodriguez, a founding Engineering Academy teacher. “All that is manual. All that is hands on.”
One of the 3D printers that Palmdale High School engineering students use for their various projects.
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Ashley Balderrama
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Safety goggles and headphones that the students use in the engineering lab.
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Ashley Balderrama
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Wyatt Garcia also graduated from Palmdale High School in 2015 and said Rodriguez tailored the classes to teenage interests. For example, the students built skateboards from scratch.
“You weren't going to fail,” Garcia said. “It was all just like little building blocks where you learn how to do this.”
During the 2013-2014 school year, a school field trip to a science symposium where students spotted a “badass” university solar car inspired the students to build a sun-powered vehicle of their own. Garcia wasn’t there, but would hear the story re-counted when he later joined the Solar Falcons, the Palmdale High School team.
The Solar Car Challenge competition, started in 1993, provided a template and a goal — students worked together to build a car, then drive their invention in a race against students from across the country.
Rodriguez served as one of the team’s first advisors back in the summer of 2014.
"If it's good for kids, let's try to figure it out — that's always been my philosophy," said Betsy McKinstry, Antelope Valley Union High School District Director of CTE/College and Career Readiness since 2008.
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Ruben Rodriguez, the founder of the Palmdale High School engineering academy and solar car team said failure is a part of learning. "Engineers don't succeed the first time," Rodriguez said. "You fail, and you fail, and you fail, and you fail — often a lot — so that you will eventually end up with a good product."
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Lockheed Martin initially sponsored the project and engineers from the aerospace company that helped develop military aircraft mentored the team.
How Does A Solar Car Work?
Solar panels absorb light from the sun, then a photovoltaic converter changes the energy to electricity that is stored in batteries and powers the car’s motor. Palmdale’s vehicle, known as the Helios Falcon, has a separate battery that powers the speedometer, horn, emergency lights and other dashboard functions.
Students work in four groups to build all components of the vehicle: electrical, automotive, solar and fabrication. Along the way, students typically solve for dozens of potential disasters. For example, the car’s battery is housed in a metal box that, if not properly ventilated, can overheat and explode.
It opened my eyes and it really helped me understand like, ‘Hey, like, this is how math is used in the real world to solve real problems.’
— Oscar Guzman, 2015 Palmdale grad and solar car team member
Guzman, then the team’s vice president, remembers the Lockheed engineers working with students in 2014 and 2015 to ensure the car’s battery could cool off by calculating how much air needed to flow through the battery compartment.
“That light bulb went off and I was like, ’Wow, that's incredible,’” Guzman said.
It was one of the first times Guzman saw engineering in action, but it wouldn’t be the last.
“It opened my eyes,” Guzman said. “It really helped me understand like, ‘Hey, like, this is how math is used in the real world to solve real problems.’”
The team built the first car in less than a year and named it for the Greek sun god. The Helios Falcon traveled 349.5 miles around the Texas Motor Speedway and placed seventh out of 15 teams in 2015.
Wyatt said years later, when he experiences self-doubt, he remembers the solar car team’s debut.
“We fought for it, like, we, we grinded through it,” Garcia said. “People around us supported us through it. And I think that really gave us the motivation, like, to continue on.”
Garcia returned to mentor subsequent solar car teams. It was a way to give back, and also earn supplemental income while he attended community college and cared for his daughter, who was born his junior year in high school.
“It gave me a lot of purpose,” Garcia said.
Joseph Jones, 16, stands near the car's solar panels on July 21, 2023. Jones carried out electrical work on the Helios Falcon.
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Behind the scenes, teachers and district administrators over the years built an infrastructure to financially support the program.
The Antelope Valley Press reported the first car, plus travel to Texas for the competition, cost around $95,000.
The district combines money from state and federal career and technical education funding to maintain class sizes and purchase materials for the Engineering Academy.
“If you can demonstrate that this is good for kids, you can find the funding,” said Andrews, the assistant principal.
The Solar Team also relies on individual donations and corporate sponsorships, including from local science, technology, engineering and mathematics companies.
“To have a homegrown talent pipeline of underrepresented communities that are in our schools, especially in Title One schools, is really important to economic development,” said McKinstry, the district director.
The 2022-2023 school year was teacher Matthew Henzie's first as the Solar Falcon team advisor. He said the students' biggest lessons weren't technical ones. "Some of these kids may never weld again, but they will learn skills that will go through every area of life," Henzie said. "Identifying where the problem is, not only figuring out a solution, but figuring out the best solution and being able to work together as a team."
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The demographics of Palmdale High School’s Engineering Academy largely reflect those of the school overall, with about 85% of the 220 students identifying as Latinx. There are proportionally fewer Black students — they make up 7% of the engineering academy and 14% of the school overall. Over 80% of the engineering academy is male, while the school overall has a roughly 50-50 gender mix.
Nearly 70% of engineering academy students come from low-income families or those in which neither parent has received a high school diploma.
The 2023 race
How we reported this story
LAist interviewed Palmdale High School educators, students and alumni. The story also has quotes from rising senior Hannah Valdez’s audio diary of the race that included interviews with several teammates. Valdez is the student responsible for the team’s communications.
The Solar Challenge alternates annually between a closed track race and a multi-state sprint where each team has an allotted time each day to travel as many miles as possible. The 2023 route stretched from Fort Worth, Texas to Palmdale.
Once students arrive in Texas, every team has to pass through a rigorous car evaluation dubbed “scrutineering” before they’re cleared to compete.
This year, judges questioned whether the structure of the Palmdale team’s battery box would hold up in a collision.
While the team is used to heat — Palmdale regularly tops 100 degrees in the summer — Texas humidity added challenges.
“You're already stressed and you're hot and you're mad and the car's not working,” recalled team member Hannah Valdez, who serves as the team’s spokesperson. “You're told you have to get this fixed and this and on top of this and that and that It just all really comes into one big issue— that puts a strain on the team.”
The fabrication team rushed to manufacture a solution.
From left, Diego Munoz Diaz, junior; Mathew Adeleke, sophomore; Anthony Sananes, junior; Jennie Perez Armenta, senior; Alejandro Rodriguez, senior; EJ Dela Cruz, senior; Hannah Valdez, junior; Tania Campos, senior; Aleyssa Coleman, senior; Top right: Joseph Jones, sophomore; Cannon Garriga, sophomore, stand next to their solar car, the Helios Falcon, in the parking lot of Palmdale High School on July 21, 2023.
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The last-minute modifications worked and the Helios Falcon passed scrutineering.
On the first day of the race, July 16, the team woke to muggy heat and cloudy skies. Sprinkles soon turned to heavy rain, thunder and lightning. The car was slow to start and only got up to about 20 miles per hour instead of its usual average of 25 to 35 miles per hour.
On day two, the team spent between three and four hours repairing a blown fuse.
A team from Watertown High School in Wisconsin and the Bend School District in Oregon helped with the repairs — a valuable reminder of the race’s purpose.
“It's not about competition between teams, but it's about teamwork,” said Dela Cruz, one of the Palmdale team’s drivers. “And wanting every team to succeed and just finish the race altogether.”
This type of aid is common. Back in 2022, the Palmdale team provided another high school with a spare motor.
“There's always hiccups and I think that's what makes it even more exciting yet challenging and frustrating,” said Kassandra Vazquez Jimenez, a 2019 Palmdale graduate. "You can be there and you'll learn the inside and the outside of the car.”
Diego Munoz Diaz, a junior student, and solar car fabrication engineer, unloads equipment from the school van on July 21, 2023.
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By 10 a.m. on day three, the team found their groove, Valdez said at the time. The Helios Falcon had its best day yet, and traveled 40 miles on the stretch of race between Carlsbad, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.
But that night, the advisors called the team to the hotel lobby and announced the 2023 challenge was over. More than a dozen staff members of the Solar Car Challenge had COVID-19 and the remainder of the race was canceled to avoid spreading the disease among students.
Team Captain Anthony Sonanes Cruz gave the team space to process.
“I know they needed to let things out and they were just upset,” Sonanes Cruz said. “I wasn't going to say anything to them.”
The Palmdale team returned to their rooms to test. No one from the high school team had COVID then or has tested positive since.
Soon, the team caravan, which included a pickup truck, trailer, and van began the drive back to Palmdale.
“My best memory was spending the nights with the teammates,” driver Dela Cruz said.
The students played Cards Against Humanity in the evenings and were gifted free breakfast from an Arizona café that saw a video of the team on social media.
The Solar Falcons seniors got one last chance to drive the car on an empty stretch of desert road Friday afternoon.
Where are they now?
The Palmdale solar car team has yet to win first place, but alumni describe the experience leading up to the competition as nothing short of life-altering.
Rodriguez, who retired in 2022, said the goal was never for every student to become an engineer.
“What I want is for them to be able to apply whatever it is that they have learned,” Rodriguez said.
Vazquez remembered being one of few women in the engineering academy when she joined as freshman in 2015 and said it was teachers like Rodriguez that encouraged her to continue.
“They would just take me under their wing and help me navigate it,” Vazquez said. Her senior year, Rodriguez introduced her to a team alum that helped inform her decision to study engineering at UC Irvine.
Vazquez now works as a mechanical engineer at Southern California Edison in Palmdale.
Kimberly Amador graduated in 2019 and now studies computer science at University of the Pacific. She says the teamwork is what she remembers most about her time as a Solar Falcon. "Everyone puts in a piece," Amador said. "We're all working together to keep going and keep adding on to that piece."
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Wyatt Garcia planned to join the military or become a firefighter after graduating. After joining the solar car team, he switched to studying engineering at Antelope Valley College. Garcia went on to graduate from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in electrical engineering.
“This whole trajectory, where I'm at right now, is all because of solar car,” Garcia said.
Garcia now works at Honeybee Robotics in Pasadena.
“My stuff I’m working on [that] I physically touched … it’s going to space,” Garcia said with a little bit of wonder before clarifying that whether the craft makes it to the moon will depend on several factors outside of his control.
Garcia’s classmate Oscar Guzman went on to study computer science at Cal State Northridge and is on track to complete a master’s degree in 2024.
Last year he accepted a job at Lockheed Martin — the completion of a dream initiated when he first met engineers from the company while working on the solar car. Guzman doesn’t plan to leave the Antelope Valley any time soon.
“There's plenty of opportunity,” Guzman said. “As long as there's people here who, you know, can lead the way.”
A crowd of parents, school administrators and students gather for the arrival of the Palmdale High School solar race team on July 21, 2023.
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Tania Campos, a Palmdale High School senior and fabrication engineer, embraces her family as she arrives from Texas on July 21, 2023.
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A warm homecoming
Honks from an ambulance, the school’s cheerleaders, revving engines from a local motorcycle club and dozens of friends, family and educators greeted the students at the school just after 6 p.m. Friday.
The team unloaded the Helios Falcon in less than 2 minutes, a routine they perfected while in Texas.
The eleven students huddled in front of the car and at the count of three shouted “Falcons!” in unison.
The team held back tears and laughter while the school’s principal, a board member and the adult support crew commended their work.
“This year I saw 10 misfits become one cohesive team,” said Pedro del Valle, a staff member at the high school and a longtime solar car supporter. “I saw them come out of their shells. I saw their confidence build. And all I can say is, as parents, you should be very proud of every single one of them.”
Sonanes Cruz, the team captain, said he was overwhelmed.
“I thank everyone for the support,” he said. “What else can I say? Thank you.”
Anthony Sonanes Cruz, 17, tearfully embraces his father after a day of unloading and travel from Texas on July 21, 2023.
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The team has a few weeks to rest before preparations for next year’s solar car race and school start in August. Sonanes Cruz will return as the team's captain and CEO.
One team dream is to race in the advanced division of the competition where cars are capable of reaching up to 70 miles per hour. The team also has an electric vehicle that sat out this year’s race that they hope to use in competition again one day.
One of the first things to address is the mechanical issue that hampered the Helios Falcon’s homecoming. Sonanes Cruz guesses it’s a loose wire that should be easy enough to fix.
“I haven't seen one challenge that we have not found a solution for yet,” Sonanes Cruz said.
Nearly 30% more students in Los Angeles County experienced homelessness from 2022-23 to 2023-24, making it the county’s highest rate in the past five years and far outpacing the rate of homelessness across the state in the same timeframe, as the resources to identify and support this student population have decreased.
Norwalk-La Mirada Unified: Researchers found that Norwalk-La Mirada Elementary Unified School District had the highest rate of student homelessness in the county — 1 in 3 students, meaning that over 4,700 students were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2023-24 school year out of a total cumulative enrollment of about 15,600.
Underidentifed students: Researchers also found that the Transformation of Schools focuses on the lack of dedicated funding for school staff to identify and support homeless students. Students and families facing homelessness do not always self-identify, whether due to fear, shame or being unaware that their housing situation is considered homelessness
Nearly 30% more students in Los Angeles County experienced homelessness from 2022-23 to 2023-24, making it the county’s highest rate in the past five years and far outpacing the rate of homelessness across the state in the same timeframe, as the resources to identify and support this student population have decreased.
Researchers found that Norwalk-La Mirada Elementary Unified School District had the highest rate of student homelessness in the county — 1 in 3 students, meaning that over 4,700 students were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2023-24 school year out of a total cumulative enrollment of about 15,600.
The city of Norwalk, where the district is located in the eastern region of the county, was sued by the state in 2024 for banning emergency shelters and other support services for people experiencing homelessness. Last year, the state reached a settlement with the city, which was forced to overturn the ban and put $250,000 toward building affordable housing.
Student homelessness is defined differently under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law that requires every public school to count the number of students who are living on the street, in shelters, in motels, in cars, doubled up with other families, or moving between friends’ and relatives’ homes.
As a result of this expanded definition, McKinney-Vento includes doubled-up students in the count of homelessness. Doubled-up is a term used to describe children and youth ages 21 and under living in shared housing, such as with another family or friends, due to various crises.
There were a few other patterns seen in the L.A. County data analyzed by the UCLA researchers:
Latino students were disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness: they represent 65% of the county’s student population, but 75.5% of student homelessness
A third of homeless students were in high school
Many districts with the highest rates of homelessness had higher school instability but lower dropout rates
While McKinney-Vento has an expanded definition that includes more types of homelessness than several other definitions, identifying students remains difficult.
The second report from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools focuses on the lack of dedicated funding for school staff to identify and support homeless students. Students and families facing homelessness do not always self-identify, whether due to fear, shame or being unaware that their housing situation is considered homelessness under McKinney-Vento.
“A lot of these young people are dealing with a lot of trauma, so they don’t want to be identified. They don’t want to be pointed out; sometimes it’s scary for them, because they think we’re going to report them to the Department of Children and Family Services,” said L.A. County Office of Education staff interviewed for this report.
School staff, known as homeless liaisons, who work with homeless students received a historic influx of federal funds during the Covid-19 pandemic — $98.76 million for California, out of $800 million nationwide, from the American Rescue Plan-Homeless Children and Youth.
That funding has since ended, and there is no other dedicated, ongoing state funding set aside solely for the rising number of homeless students. This has led districts in California to “heavily depend on highly competitive and unstable federal streams,” the UCLA researchers wrote. Those federal streams have become increasingly precarious as the federal administration last year sought policy changes that would shift how they are structured.
Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment reporter and brings you the top news you need for the day.
Updated April 3, 2026 2:26 PM
Published April 3, 2026 1:59 PM
The Spring Fire around 11 a.m. in east Moreno Valley.
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Alert California
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UC San Diego
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Topline:
Multiple evacuation orders are in place for residents near the Spring Fire burning east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County. The fire was first reported around 11 a.m.
Multiple evacuation orders are in place for residents near the Spring Fire burning in east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County. The fire was first reported around 11 a.m.
As of this afternoon, the fire has reached about 1,500 acres.
West of the Spring, a separate bush fire near Acton also began Friday afternoon. The Crown Fire has burned 280 acres and is 0% contained.
The basics
Acreage: 1,500 acres as of Friday afternoon
Containment: 0%
Structures destroyed: None reported
Deaths: None
Injuries: 0
Personnel working on fire: 105
2 helicopters
23 engines
2 dozers
2 crews
Evacuation map and orders
Evacuation orders have been issued by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for the following areas:
MOE-0507
MOE-0747
MOE-0745
MOE-0641
MOE-0746
MOE-0744
RVC-0748
RVC-0826
RVC-0825
Evacuation warnings
Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.
MOE-0504
MOE-0505
MOE-0506
MOE-0633
MOE-0636
MOE-0637
MOE-0638
MOE-0639
MOE-0640
MOE-0743
MOE-0822
MOE-0823
Evacuation shelters
Valley View High School 13135 Nason St. Moreno Valley, 92555
Animal Shelter
San Jacinto Animal Shelter 581 S. Grand Ave. San Jacinto 92582
Road closures
Gilman Springs Road is closed from Alessandro Road to Bridge Street, according to Cal Fire.
What we know so far
The Spring Fire was first reported around 11 a.m. Friday near Gilman Springs Road as a 5-acre fire that grew to 1,000 acres by 1:45 p.m.
VEGETATION FIRE - rpt @ 10:59AM. 15900 block Gilman Springs Road, east of Moreno Valley. Firefighters are on-scene of 5-6 acres burning in light flashy fuels. Gilman Springs Road is closed from Alessandro Road to Bridge Street. #SpringsIC@RivCoNowpic.twitter.com/KsTOq4QxM5
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) April 3, 2026
Conditions are fairly windy and dry in that area, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts reached 20 to 30 mph from the east.The Santa Ana wind event is expected to last into tomorrow.
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The president’s budget request released Friday didn’t provide a dime of the $2 billion the countywide transportation agency seeks.
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Topline:
The Trump administration did not include funding in its federal budget proposal for Los Angeles Metro’s key plan to use thousands of buses to transport fans to scattered venues hosting the 2028 Games.
The plan: Metro plans to essentially double its bus fleet for the 2028 Games by temporarily acquiring, operating and storing nearly 1,750 additional buses for spectators. The agency says that will cost about $1 billion. The remainder of the $2 billion appropriations request would be for pedestrian improvements and designing a network of roads for Games vehicles, among other uses.
Final opportunity? California Democratic congressional representatives have repeatedly appealed to the Trump administration to provide funding for Metro. In their latest letter from February, they said this budget process is the “final opportunity” to secure Metro’s funding request.
Read on … for more details on Metro’s plan, how buses were used in the 1984 Olympics.
The Trump administration did not include funding in its federal budget proposal for Los Angeles Metro’s key plan to use thousands of buses to transport fans to scattered venues hosting the 2028 Games.
L.A. Metro’s Board and California Democrats have repeatedly appealed to the administration to provide federal dollars for the region’s "transit-first" Games. The president’s budget request released Friday didn’t provide a dime of the $2 billion the countywide transportation agency is seeking.
The 92-page document is a signal of the administration’s priorities for the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Ultimately, the U.S. Congress decides how federal dollars are spent.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who represents Culver City and parts of Los Angeles, wrote a letter with her California Democratic colleagues to the administration in February calling this budget process the “final opportunity” to secure Metro’s funding request.
U.S. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove is one of the California Democrats leading advocacy in Washington, D.C., to secure L.A. Metro's $2 billion federal funding request.
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Assembleymember Sydney Kamlager Facebook Page
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In a statement to LAist, Kamlager-Dove said she was “incredibly disappointed” that Metro was excluded in the president’s budget request.
“At the end of the day, Congress has the power to appropriate money,” she said. “Despite the president’s lack of foresight, I will continue to advocate to ensure this funding is included so L.A. Metro has what they need to succeed.”
Rep. Pete Aguilar, who has a seat on the Congressional subcommittee overseeing federal transportation appropriations, said President Donald Trump has talked about the Olympics “time and time again,” pointing to the most recent State of the Union as an example.
“Our charge is to ensure that they adequately fund this and that they put the resources behind it so they aren't just using it as a talking point, but they're actually leaning in,” Aguilar told LAist in an interview before the president’s proposed budget request was released.
What would the money be used for?
Metro plans to essentially double its bus fleet for the 2028 Games by temporarily acquiring, operating and storing nearly 1,750 additional buses for spectators. The agency says that will cost about $1 billion. The remainder of the appropriations request would be for pedestrian improvements and designing a network of roads for Games vehicles, among other uses.
Seleta Reynolds, Metro’s chief of innovation and Games mobility planning, said at a January Metro Board meeting that finding and preparing the real estate where the buses will be staged involves a lead time of two years, meaning the agency would need a “chunk of funding available by this summer.”
Initially, Metro had asked for $3.2 billion to support a plan to temporarily use 2,700 buses. Metro reduced the estimate for the number of buses needed after LA28, the Games organizing committee, refined the venues and schedule for events.
That reduction, plus other federal funding that Metro has received to partially support station and light rail improvements, brought the total amount of money in the federal appropriations request down to $2 billion, the countywide transportation agency said.
“Without the full level of funding requested, the complete scope of the [Games Enhanced Transit System] would not be feasible, as the cost of operating this temporary system exceeds Metro’s available operating resources,” the agency said in its statement.
Jacie Prieto Lopez, a spokesperson for LA28, told LAist in a statement before the president released his budget request that the organizing committee was supporting partners in Congress and the administration, who are leading the budget and appropriations process.
"With the full support of federal transit money for the games, we can collectively create a positive commuting experience," Prieto Lopez said.
Success with buses during LA84
A bus system similar to the one Metro is planning for 2028 was critical to the success of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Metro's predecessor, Southern California Rapid Transit District, deployed 550 additional buses, hundreds of new drivers and 24 routes to move people around the city for the Olympics.
A view of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles, 12th August 1984.
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Getty Images Europe
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In the run-up to those Games, one California Highway Patrol official warned the L.A. Times that congestion around the L.A. Memorial Coliseum would be so extreme that drivers would abandon their cars on the freeway. Headlines warned of "traffic woes."
Rich Perelman, who led press operations for the 1984 Olympics and edited the official report on the Games, told LAist that in 1984, no public funds were used for the additional bus fleet. Bus tickets and some donations and corporate sponsorships covered the cost.
Perelman said organizers pulled off the bus system by staying focused on the areas where parking was sparse, such as the Coliseum. According to the official report, nearly 80% of rides on the bus system were to Exposition Park.
" It was a transit-smart approach," Perelman said. " If there was plenty of parking, we didn't say you have to take the bus. We didn't make any nonsensical claims of 'no-car Games' or 'transit only Games.’"
Security funding from the federal government
Transportation funding is just one bucket that the federal government is expected to contribute for the Olympics.
The budget released by the Trump administration Friday contained major increases for the Department of Homeland Security, including some linked to Olympics preparations. It asks for additional funding for the FBI and Secret Service, which leads security planning for the Games.
But exactly how that money will be distributed has yet to be determined — and L.A. politicians have expressed concern that the funds may come with strings attached that the city of L.A. will find hard to swallow.
It's also possible that money could face delays that could disrupt Olympics planning. The federal government was late in awarding hundreds of millions of dollars that it promised for security for the World Cup this year — a delay the Trump administration attributed to the Homeland Security shutdown.
Across from an auto shop on Venice Boulevard and Albany Street sits a narrow, sunken strip of land lined with overgrown shrubs and cacti. It’s mostly filled with trash — from plastic bags and cups to containers, straws, chip bags and aluminum foil.
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Marina Peña
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The LA Local
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Topline:
Bioswales — narrow, sunken strip of land along some L.A. streets — are meant to capture and filter storm water runoff, helping reduce flooding and keep pollutants from flowing into the ocean. But citywide, there are about 23 bioswales that appear abandoned.
Why it matters: The sidewalk features were installed during former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Complete Streets program around 2018. The initiative aimed to improve streets, add greenery and better manage stormwater along key corridors across the city. But residents, like some in Pico Union, say that bioswales have become dumping grounds. In some cases, the concrete structures were installed but left without vegetation for years, presenting safety concerns.
What's being done about them? Steve Kang, president of the city’s Board of Public Works, said his office is now working to create a program similar to “Adopt-a-Median” that would allow community members and organizations to formally maintain bioswales. Under the proposal, participants would enter into agreements with the city, with support from the Office of Community Beautification, which can provide tools like gloves, trash bags and gardening supplies.
Across from an auto shop on Venice Boulevard and Albany Street sits a narrow, sunken strip of land lined with overgrown shrubs and cacti. It’s mostly filled with trash — from plastic bags and cups to containers, straws, chip bags and aluminum foil.
It’s original purpose was to capture and filter storm water runoff, helping reduce flooding and keep pollutants from flowing into the ocean. But neighbors in Pico Union say that this bioswale and many others across the city have become dumping grounds.
The sidewalk features were installed during former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Complete Streets program around 2018. The initiative aimed to improve streets, add greenery and better manage stormwater along key corridors across the city.
Local resident Aurora Corona — a longtime Pico Union community organizer involved in local environmental and cleanup efforts — said in some instances it looks like the bioswales were not fully installed.
Citywide, there are about 23 bioswales that appear abandoned, Corona said. Many are located in central and South Los Angeles and spread across at least eight council districts.
In some cases, the concrete structures were installed but left without vegetation for years, Corona said, raising concerns that they were never able to function as intended.
Heberto Portobanco, owner of the Nicaraguan restaurant Portobanco in Pico Union, first noticed the bioswale outside his business about eight years ago, but it became hard to ignore about two years ago when it became a hazard.
“We had an accident, one of the people who does maintenance for us came and fell into it,” he said.
The bioswale was deeper and not fully finished, Portobanco said. After multiple people reported what happened to the city, Portobanco said the city added more soil to level it out.
“The idea might be nice, but if it’s not maintained, it’s a problem,” Portobanco said.
The biggest concern for Portobanco remains safety, especially as he said that people continue to use the space improperly or fail to notice it altogether.
He would be willing to help maintain the bioswale outside his restaurant if the city created a formal program to do so.
For him, keeping the space clean is also about pride and perception.
“I don’t want people to think that Latinos are careless and that we don’t take care of our surroundings,” he said, adding that a well-kept space could encourage others to take better care of the neighborhood.
Corona, the local organizer, has experienced similar issues to the ones Portobanco described.
She lives near two bioswales, including the one near Portobanco’s restaurant.
She first encountered them while organizing a cleanup around 2024 and said she didn’t initially know what they were. What she did know was that they were not being taken care of.
“I was tired of seeing this being a dumping ground, they would just throw trash here all the time,” she said.
That frustration pushed her to take action. She thought of what she had already done with other public spaces in her community.
In 2024, she helped transform a neglected dirt space on Venice Boulevard and Union Avenue into a small community green area — also known as a median — using local grant funding. With the help of volunteers, they removed contaminated soil and planted drought-tolerant greenery.
“It’s only been here since November and it’s grown a lot,” she said about the green belt, pointing to plants that started as small pots and are now taking root.
Corona continues to organize cleanups and, through the city’s “Adopt-a-Median” program, works with neighbors to maintain the space. She said she’d like to see a similar model applied to bioswales — essentially an “Adopt-a-Bioswale” program that would allow residents to take ownership of the ones near them.
“I think people would step up if they were given the chance and the support,” she said.
Across from an auto shop on Venice Boulevard and Albany Street sits a narrow, sunken strip of land lined with overgrown shrubs and cacti. It’s mostly filled with trash — from plastic bags and cups to containers, straws, chip bags and aluminum foil.
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Marina Peña
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The LA Local
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The program for the bioswales, as she envisions it, would involve planting California natives such as dudleya edulis, dudleya pulverulenta and other species that can withstand the weather. It would also call for improving their visibility by painting the bioswale borders in colors that reflect the neighborhood.
That idea has already been discussed at the city level.
Steve Kang, president of the city’s Board of Public Works, agrees that many bioswales now sit “barren” and are treated as “more of a trash repository.”
He said his office is now working to create a program similar to “Adopt-a-Median” that would allow community members and organizations to formally maintain bioswales.
“My intention is to make the process as seamless and easy as possible,” Kang said, adding that the goal is to launch the program sometime in 2026.
Under the proposal, participants would enter into agreements with the city, with support from the Office of Community Beautification, which can provide tools like gloves, trash bags and gardening supplies.
For residents like Corona and business owners like Portobanco, that kind of partnership could turn what are now neglected strips of land into something more useful.
“If we take care of these spaces, they can become something people are proud of,” Corona said. “It changes how people see the neighborhood and how they treat it.”
