The Brief

Los Angeles has long had a reputation for being smoggy and traffic congested. Angelenos in this sprawling, gas-guzzling city love their cars.

Of all people who commute to work, 89% take cars, trucks or vans, according to an analysis of census data. But there are other options, and a lot of time and money have been spent across L.A. city and county to expand our modes of transportation.

A push for more transit in LA

The new Metro rail map.

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Courtesy Metro

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There are six rail lines, which include four light rail lines (the A, C, E and K lines) and two rapid transit lines (B and D lines) that serve 101 stations from San Fernando Valley to Long Beach, and areas in between.

L.A. has one of the largest bus fleets in the nation with 2,320 buses and more than 100 routes. Plus, there are around 100 miles of bike lanes in the county, although not always connecting.

It's far from perfect, but there’s a big push to do more — and do better. LA Metro, the county agency that makes decisions about public transportation, has been on a mission to increase ridership.

For one, L.A. aims to be a zero carbon emission zone by 2050. Officials want to increase the number of Angelenos who walk, bike and use non-gas guzzling transit to 50%.

Another big reason is that the Summer Olympics and Paralympics are coming to L.A. in 2028 and officials aim to complete several transportation projects beforehand.

"The overall goal for the games for us is to enable all ticketed spectators to travel to the competition venues by public transit, or walking or cycling," said Ernesto Chaves, a senior executive at LA Metro.

Here are some of the ways Metro hopes to meet these goals:

• Provide residents with access to good transit choices within a 10-minute distance
• Reduce wait times for public transit to a maximum of 15 minutes at any time
• Improve the average travel time on buses by 30%

Still, even if all is achieved, the challenge of getting people out of their cars is very real.

Taking the bus

To understand this a little bit better, the How To LA team is turning the lens inward. Most of us (including yours truly) drive our cars all over town. But we want to be better. We want to mix up our transportation modes to be gentler on the environment, traffic patterns and our wallets.

I don't know about you, but it seems like a significant portion of our paycheck goes to gas every week. According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the average hourly wage for someone who lives in the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Anaheim region is $33.43. The average gas price for the area is about $4.50 a gallon — less than it’s been but still more than a dollar above the national average.

So today we take a stronger step towards using public transportation. Today, we are learning how to ride the bus (we’ll tackle rail in another story).

How to LA producer Evan Jacoby and Aaricka Washington check out a bus route on an LA Metro map in Silver Lake

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Kenya Romero

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LAist

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There are 10 million people who live in L.A. County and, of those who commute to work, only about 4% take the bus, according to an analysis of census data.

It can be daunting. L.A. is a big place. You have to figure out where each bus is going and when. It can also take a lot of time and the bus isn’t always punctual.

To help us get over the intimidation factor we reached out to Eric Brightwell, a cartographer, bus advocate and a self-described adventurer, who has been car-free for 13 years.

The How To LA crew who joined the bus ride included me, producer Evan Jacoby, host Brian De Los Santos and social media editor Kenya Romero (because if not on Insta or TikTok, it didn’t happen, right?).

Here’s how it all went down:

11 a.m. download a transit app

We meet Brightwell in Silver Lake, where he lives and works, to figure out a good, scenic route for our 30-minute bus trip. He recommends we take the #4 bus line from the 99 Cent Store by the Sunset Triangle Plaza to downtown. He says it comes pretty often.

He told us to download a transit app to plan the trip. Transit apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps and Moovit can show you how to travel through the main areas of L.A. County. Since I’m a forever Google Maps girl, I stick with what I know. You simply tap in where you would like to go, click on the “directions” button and the app will show you various methods of how to get to your destination.

Host Brian De Los Santos and Associate Editor Aaricka Washington go in search of their bus stop in Silver Lake

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Kenya Romero

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LAist

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LA map maker Eric Brightwell talks to How to LA's Aaricka Washington about the pros and cons of riding the bus

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Kenya Romero

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LAist

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“So I'm checking my transit app, and it says [the bus is] coming in 10 minutes, and then again in 21 minutes,” Brightwell says.

Brightwell told us about his trips to Tokyo, Thailand and Barcelona where the wait times were much shorter than in the United States.

“The average wait for a bus in Barcelona is two minutes,” Brightwell says. “So you know, 10 minutes here. It's not the end of the world [but] it could be better.”

11:30 a.m. Buy a TAP Card or reload funds

A TAP card can be used to ride the bus, train or to check out an electric bike. For the bus, a single ride from Sunset Triangle Plaza to downtown costs $1.75. But you can add any amount between $2 and $300 to each card.

There are several places to buy or reload funds on a TAP Card. You can download the TAP app to your smartphone. You can type in your city, neighborhood or zip code on the website to find a TAP Vendor in L.A. County. There are also TAP Vending Machines at the Metro rail stations. Here’s how to find one.

You do not need a physical card. We download ours onto our phones.

If you pay online or through an app, you can use credit card, TAP account cash, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal. Cash is accepted at TAP vendors, TAP Vending Machines and bus fareboxes. If you ride the bus again within the hour of your first ride, it’s free.

Here’s what else you need to know about fare capping. To incentivize ridership, LA Metro limits the amount of money one has to spend to ride the bus. Regular bus riders don’t have to pay more than $5 a day, or $18 within seven days. There are also reduced bus fares for seniors, people with disabilities, students and low-income riders.

The bus stop

The navigation on Brightwell’s transit app leads us to the #4 bus stop at Sunset and Maltman Avenue. We’re taking the downtown LA - Santa Monica local bus route.

As we wait, I have a question: how does the bus driver know we’re waiting on them?

“I always stick my hand out and wave,” Brightwell says. “There’s obviously a big group of people, but I try to make sure I get their attention. I have been sitting at the bench before and it just goes by and I'm like, ‘Oh, I guess I wasn't obvious enough about wanting to use that bus.’”

Good to know.

Brightwell adds that he takes the bus to get to specific destinations, but also to see the city — something he recommends to friends. He says just get on a bus and go somewhere; don’t transfer.

“From my place in Silver Lake, you can get on the bus here and go all the way to Burbank, to Glendale, to Americana, to Din Tai Fung, to downtown. All you have to do is just walk two blocks, pay $1.75 and sit down.”

Our bus arrives. It's 4 minutes late.

11:50 a.m Tap your card, take your seat, watch the city go by

The bus pulls up and we get on. We get out our phones, open up our digital Apple Wallets to “pull out” the TAP card and tap our phones on the bus farebox.

It’s not crowded at all — only six other passengers. We sit down in the middle of the bus and it takes off smoothly.

On our journey to Hill and Third Street downtown the bus makes 20 stops. As we rode along Broadway and then on Sunset Boulevard, Brightwell points out a few spots along our route and notes some of the history.

More than 130 years ago Rancho Los Feliz landowner Griffith J. Griffith (yep, that Griffith) and Charles Sketchley had a joint venture to raise and show off ostriches. According to Los Angeles Magazine, this farm and the Ostrich Farm Railway that helped get tourists back and forth from the farm, was how Griffith Park and Sunset Boulevard took shape.

“That was one of the major tourist attractions,” Brightwell says. “And I guess not just tourists, like, people that lived in Los Angeles were like, ‘let's go, go see those ostriches. It's the weekend.’ There’s history all around you.”

The Ostrich Farm Railway is now the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the hilly landscape of Echo Park and Silver Lake.

Along the route there were also a lot of murals I'd never noticed before.

There’s one vibrant “Welcome 2 LA” mural on 2702 Sunset Boulevard from artist Cache Uno that features cats and chickens.

“He’s a Guatemalan vegan artist, “ notes Brightwell. “He always has chicken motifs in his street art. You definitely notice that kind of thing if you’re riding on a bus or on a bike.”

As we continue down Sunset, he talks about businesses that have come and gone and points out the diversity of the strip: the Saint Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church and what used to be a Vietnamese Chinese market that’s now a food hall, the Little Joy bar.

“That is one thing that I love about the buses, you can drink and not drive,” Brightwell says.

12:09 p.m. End of the line

We get to our destination on Hill and 3rd. We pull the signal cord by the window to hop off of the bus.

In total, the ride took 19 minutes. We went through Silver Lake, passed El Pueblo and Chinatown and rode along Cesar Chavez and High Streets. I really think it would have taken me an extra five minutes to drive my car.

“It’s not a bad time, and it flew by pretty fast for me,” Brightwell says. “I will say it flies by faster if you have people you’re talking to, or if you’re reading a book.”

He says he’s lost track of the time before and missed his stop. His pro tip: pay attention once in a while, listen for your stop and set alerts on your transit app.

We walk to Grand Central Market for a bite. After lunch, we went to the bus stop at Broadway and Fifth and head back to our starting location.

Tips for riding the bus if you have additional needs

LA Metro has some accessibility goals that are currently underway. For those who are 50 and older, LA Metro has an On the Move Riders Program. To learn more, stay up to date and connect with a peer-to-peer travel training club, sign up for emails here.

Seniors and people with disabilities can watch this video to learn about how to ride the bus and rail. LA Metro can accommodate a variety of wheelchairs with a ramp device that lowers to the concrete so people can wheel themselves onto it.

Also, people who are 62 and older, disabled or are Medicare customers can apply for a Reduced Fare TAP card and save up to 80% off regular Metro fares. People with disabilities can ride the bus for 75 cents and and for only 35 cents on off peak times (weekdays between 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., weekends and holidays).

Familiarize yourself with your rights. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), transit providers must offer audible announcements about fixed route stops for those who are visually impaired or have other disabilities. Service animals are also welcome on Metro buses and trains. If you have any concerns or complaints about anything ADA-related, this site can help you navigate how to file a service complaint.

If you are a bike rider, there are racks for you on Metro busses. Make sure that you remove all of the loose items not attached to your bike and take them with you before securing your bike to the rack. LA Metro recommends that you monitor your bike while riding the bus, and that you tell the bus operator that you will be getting your bike from the rack when you exit through the front door. Find more safe bike tips from LA Metro here.

Pros and cons

As a frequent bus rider, Eric has some closing thoughts on what he thinks about the system — the good and the bad.

The upsides:

• Bottomline: “It’s good for the environment, it's good for the city, it cuts down on sprawl,” he says 
• You don’t have to worry about parking and driving under the influence
• It’s safer and cleaner on the bus than on the train 
• You get to experience the city in a way that you never would in a car because you can watch it go by

The challenges:

• Sometimes buses don’t stop 
• Wait times between buses are too long
• Buses can be late
• Buses can also get stuck in traffic in parts of L.A. 

What could improve:

• More frequent buses
• More dedicated bus lanes so buses can pass traffic
• More amenities at bus stops and train stations  

Extras are “severely lacking,” says Brightwell. “If you go to any East Asian city, like Taiwan, or Korea or Japan, at least I can say from personal experience, there's waiting rooms for women with kids and there's like feeding stations, self cleaning restrooms, vending machines at restaurants, bakeries, cafes, art galleries.”

In Closing

Of the How To LA group who traveled on the bus, three of us were pretty much newbies and I will say, despite its issues, we all enjoyed riding it.

Now, this was a pure pleasure ride. We were not on a strict schedule and did not need to be at our destination at a specific time. There were no real stakes involved.

It’s a different matter to use the bus for one’s daily commute.

But speaking for myself, I learned a lot riding with Brightwell and I got over the intimidation factor of using the bus to get around L.A. It’s actually pretty easy once you get the basics down.

I think I just might ride the bus to work next week!

For our next story on bus ridership. We are going to dig a little deeper into these challenges and what’s being done to address them and make the experience of riding the bus a better one.

If you’d like to share a story about your experience riding the bus, tell us here. We may include it in our next article.

Listen: How To LA rides the bus

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How easy (and fast) is it to ride the bus in LA? Well — that definitely depends. With more than 100 routes traveling all over L.A. County, it can be a little intimating to figure out where to go but if you're looking to save a little green for your wallet AND the planet, it's worth trying out!

HTLA's Aaricka Washington recently rode her second-ever bus in L.A., and she brought the team along with her for the ride. We go from Silver Lake to her home neighborhood of DTLA, and along the way we learn about what makes LA's bus network an imperfect jewel in the world of public transit, at least according to one regular user and self-described city  explorer. 

Guest: Eric Brightwell, neighborhood cartographer and avid bus-goer.

Wanna Go Car-Free? Try The Bus

How easy (and fast) is it to ride the bus in LA? Well — that definitely depends. With more than 100 routes traveling all over L.A. County, it can be a little intimating to figure out where to go but if you're looking to save a little green for your wallet AND the planet, it's worth trying out!

HTLA's Aaricka Washington recently rode her second-ever bus in L.A., and she brought the team along with her for the ride. We go from Silver Lake to her home neighborhood of DTLA, and along the way we learn about what makes LA's bus network an imperfect jewel in the world of public transit, at least according to one regular user and self-described city  explorer. 

Guest: Eric Brightwell, neighborhood cartographer and avid bus-goer.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

Campaign donations are both a measure of popular support and a sign of which candidates special interests believe they can influence. CalMatters analyzed campaign finance data in the California governor’s race. Here are five takeaways on where the money is coming from and where it’s going.

Outside money is shattering records

It’s a record-breaking election when it comes to spending by corporations and special interest groups trying to influence who becomes the next governor.

Outside groups, which unlike candidates can receive unlimited donations, reported spending $79 million so far — more than double the amount spent through the November 2018 general election when Gavin Newsom won his first term.

Billionaire Tom Steyer is the biggest target: A political spending committee called California Is Not For Sale, funded by the state Realtors association, the California Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Gas & Electric and the state’s electrical workers’ union poured $32 million into ads opposing him.

Steyer has vowed to lower electricity bills by challenging PG&E’s monopoly in much of Northern California. He’s also promised to pursue a ballot measure that would raise revenue for public services by requiring more accurate property tax assessments on business properties, a move that could upend the commercial real estate market.

Some of the same groups spending against Steyer are running ads for Xavier Becerra. Those groups — along with organizations representing doctors, contractors and several labor unions — have spent $13 million through PACs to boost Becerra.

Chevron, McDonald’s, dialysis giant DaVita and one of the state’s largest oil drillers, California Resources Corp., are funding one of the largest pro-Becerra groups, with each of them contributing $500,000. Meta and AirBnB chipped in about $1 million each and health insurance corporation Centene, which runs California-based HealthNet, put in $100,000.

Steyer is reveling in the spending against him, pointing to it as proof he’d stand up to utilities and big business. A climate activist, Steyer has highlighted Becerra’s support from Chevron.

The progressive unions California Nurses Association and United Domestic Workers have spent a comparatively modest $1.4 million on mailers and digital media boosting Steyer. Outside groups have also spent $1.8 million opposing Republican frontrunner Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host and British political strategist.

Mahan fizzles out

The second-highest outside spending went to boost Mahan, the San Jose mayor and moderate Democrat who entered the race late to much fanfare from Silicon Valley.

California’s tech billionaires urged Mahan to run and backed him with millions in donations and two independent spending committees. They were enamored with his platform of government efficiency and opposition to new taxes — positions that would shield them from the Legislature’s push to regulate tech and raise taxes on the wealthy.

Donors included venture capitalists Michael Moritz and Brian Singerman, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Intuit founder Scott Cook, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Los Angeles developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso.

The committees spent nearly $22 million on ads supporting Mahan, significantly more than the $9 million his campaign has spent. But the money wasn’t enough to overcome his significant disadvantage in name recognition as the first-term mayor of a city that doesn’t get much attention. Strategists told the committees’ backers they needed at least $45 million to make a difference.

One of the PACs, California Back to Basics, last week returned $1 million from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings; Hastings cryptically posted on X that he hadn’t asked for the money back. The refund was an acknowledgement that the committee hadn’t succeeded in raking in a final $10 to $15 million the billionaire backers hoped to raise in the last weeks of the campaign, committee spokesperson Matt Rodriguez said.

Steyer spending breaking its own records

Yet despite his opponents’ deep-pocketed donors, no one has matched the $213 million Steyer has spent on his own campaign, allowing him to blanket the airwaves with ads, pay influencers to post videos with him and send billboard trucks to drive around gas stations highlighting Becerra’s Chevron support.

That makes his the most expensive primary campaign in California gubernatorial history, exceeding that of former eBay executive Meg Whitman, a Republican who spent about $94 million in the June 2010 primary — about $142 million in today’s dollars — spending tens of millions more before losing to Jerry Brown in the general election.

California gubernatorial candidates during a debate hosted by CBS Bay Area and the San Francisco Examiner in San Francisco on May 14, 2026.

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Godofredo A. Vásquez

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AP Photo/Pool

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Swalwell donors flocked to Becerra

DaVita, the California Medical Association and the California Professional Firefighters Association all supported former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial bid before he dropped out over sexual assault allegations.

They were among the biggest Swalwell backers to quickly switch to Becerra, who has enjoyed surging support from social media and the Democratic establishment.

Small donors made a similar leap. The CalMatters analysis found that after Swalwell dropped out, more than 500 of his campaign donors went on to contribute to Becerra’s campaign. No other candidate received that much support from former Swalwell donors.

Swalwell, who has also since resigned from Congress, continues to use his gubernatorial campaign to pay more than $313,000 to attorney Sara Azari, who is defending him against the allegations. He has also refunded about $250,000 to nearly 50 donors.

Republican Steve Hilton had the most donors

The Republican frontrunner amassed the highest number of campaign donors in the race: more than 20,000. Nearly a quarter of them live outside California.

The former Fox News host seeks to slash state environmental regulations, build housing on undeveloped suburban land and cut income taxes for the middle class. He received a slight uptick in donations after President Donald Trump endorsed him on April 6.

Katie Porter, the Democratic former congressmember from Orange County and consumer protection attorney, had the second-highest number of donors, with more than 15,000.

She also has the highest share of donors outside California, reflecting her relative national fame from her headline-grabbing time grilling corporate CEOs in Congress.

But fundraising stalled for the onetime progressive darling, who touts her reliance on grassroots donors and refusal to take corporate contributions. From April 18 through May 19 she brought in less money than Mahan.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

County leaders this summer may take up a vote to add a seat exclusively for Long Beach on the Los Angeles County Metro’s Board of Directors, the agency that oversees the nation’s second-largest transit system.

In a letter to a board committee on Tuesday, County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Long Beach, argued that many of the county’s 88 cities are underrepresented on the agency’s board, leading to planning and funding decisions that favor the city of Los Angeles at the expense of farther-flung municipalities.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape a Metro Board that better represents the diversity of our vast county as well as the needs of people who regularly rely on Metro,” Hahn said. “Long Beach is the second-biggest city in L.A. County and a regional powerhouse. It’s time that its almost half a million residents had a dedicated, permanent voice on this Board, and I’m hoping that my colleagues on the Ad Hoc Board Composition Committee agree.”

Hahn also recommended adding a board seat for someone who rides the train regularly, as well as allowing board members to designate alternate members who can vote in their absence.

The board currently has 13 members who vote on contracts worth billions of dollars for construction, trains, computers and all the other hardware needed for a transit system to send riders from the coast to the Inland Empire.

Members include all five county supervisors, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and three seats she appoints. The remaining four seats are shared by 87 cities divided into four geographic areas: North County and San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Southeast County and Long Beach, and Southwest Corridor.

Long Beach shares the Southeast sector with 26 other cities, even though it accounts for a quarter of the sector’s weighted voting power — given its population of more than 462,000 — which gives it an incredible sway in who is elected to the seat.

The sector selects its leadership through an L.A. County City Selection Committee, which consists of 26 city representatives, who cast votes based on their population. Long Beach has 46 of the 164 total votes.

Breaking off Long Beach into its own seat would serve a dual purpose, Hahn said, of giving not only Long Beach better representation but also a better chance for the smaller cities to vie for the seat.

Several organizations expressed support for the new seat, including representatives from the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the city of Long Beach, the Downtown Long Beach Alliance, Congressman Robert Garcia and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.

This comes as Richardson was appointed to the seat on Tuesday, filling a vacancy left behind by outgoing Whittier City Councilman Fernando Dutra. Richardson is expected to join the MTA board officially in July.

Talks to overhaul Metro’s leadership run parallel to other governance changes seen across Los Angeles County, which began with the voter-approved Measure G in 2024 to create an elected County CEO in 2028 and grow to a nine-member Board of Supervisors in 2032.

Given their schedule, the Metro Board could take the matter to a vote as early as July, though Hahn’s office says it may take time to iron out the details of the seat and how to handle its appointment process.

It reinvigorates a 2016 effort by then state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, who tried to shake up leadership by lowering the board to two supervisor seats while adding eight members to the 14-member board, including representatives from Long Beach and other cities across the Southland.

The bill was ultimately shelved by state legislators and even opposed by members of the County Board of Supervisors at the time.

The story first appeared on LA Local.

A week after an underground pipeline near East Cesar E. Chavez and North Eastern avenues was punctured, questions remain about who was responsible.

Officials said early reports indicated a boring crew conducting directional drilling for a fiber optic line struck the 16-inch petroleum pipeline, which sent an estimated 2,400 gallons of crude oil onto nearby streets and into storm drains and the Los Angeles River. Streets in the area reopened Thursday after days of closures that disrupted nearby residents, businesses and schools, though more soil remediation remains ahead.

Spill report updates from the California Office of Emergency Services indicate that the reported cause of the spill was a “human error.”

Here’s what we know about the companies involved:

Who operated the pipeline?

The pipeline is operated by Pacific Pipeline System, which since 2006 has been owned by Plains All American Pipeline.

Who was drilling?

In the hours after the spill, Boyle Heights Beat reporters witnessed a truck labeled Camarillo Drilling Inc. A Camarillo Drilling representative told the Beat they were seeking counsel and could not confirm if they were working at the site.

A February 2026 report from the state Department of Water Resources notes that Camarillo Drilling Company, in April 2020, punctured the Santa Ana Pipeline in Riverside “while performing directional and horizontal boring during installation of an underground communications cable.”

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) filed a complaint against Camarillo Drilling in Riverside County Superior Court in April 2022, seeking damages of about $1.2 million to cover pipeline repair expenses and DWR staffing costs, according to the report. 

Why were they drilling?

NBC4 reported that HP Communications was behind the drilling of the fiber optic line. A representative with HP Communications told the Beat they could not comment or confirm that they were working at the site. 

HP Communications is one of the companies awarded a contract for the Broadband for All plan, a $6 billion state and federal investment to close the digital divide. 

The plan involves building a network of high-capacity fiber lines that carry large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances, according to LAist. About 10,000 miles of fiber optic cable is being installed throughout California, including more than 500 miles in Los Angeles County. The state owns and manages the system.

Another company that was awarded a contract for the plan is Arcadian Infracom, which in 2023, held a groundbreaking event in Boyle Heights for the California portion of its L.A. to Phoenix fiber route, LAist reported in 2024.

The project will help serve residents in East L.A. and extend to communities in Barstow and Needles (The route totals 306 miles, but only 40 are within L.A. County limits).

What remains unknown?

It’s not clear if the drilling that led to the pipeline rupture is linked to the Broadband for All effort. Arcadian Infracom has not returned a request for comment regarding any potential involvement with the pipeline puncture. 

The California Department of Technology did not respond to Boyle Heights Beat’s questions in time for publication.

Pacific Pipeline System (PPS) has also not responded to questions regarding the third-party companies involved. 

A state investigation into how the pipe was struck remains ongoing. Supervisor Hilda Solis on Thursday said she’d work with the Board of Supervisors to ensure “every responsible party is held accountable and advancing stronger protections for impacted residents, communities, and small businesses.”

How to file a claim

Claims of damage believed to be caused by the spill can be submitted to PPS by calling (877) 817-5465. Callers will be prompted to leave their name and contact information in a voicemail for a representative to return the call.

According to the pipeline operator, some examples of claims that may be considered include: 

• Property damage
• Business interruption or loss of access
• Cleanup or remediation expenses
• Equipment, vehicle or inventory damage
• Other documented costs directly related to the incident

PPS will request contact information and a description of the claimed damages. The timeline for any potential compensation depends on the urgency of the claim, according to the spokesperson.

How to report air quality concerns

To report excessive odors, smoke, dust and other air contaminants, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice advises residents to contact the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) by calling (800) CUT SMOG or (800) 288-7664. 

Residents can also access South Coast AQMD’s online complaint system by clicking here. 

To report health concerns related to odors, residents can also contact the L.A. County Department of Public Health by calling (626) 430-9821 or by emailing DPH-OEJCH@ph.lacounty.gov.