Return of Carmageddon? LA’s got a full schedule this weekend

Los Angeles is fully booked this weekend.

Four major sporting events and multiple concerts will converge on the region starting this Friday, making it the perfect storm for Carmageddon-level traffic.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said Thursday that the city is prepared to handle the increase in travel and tourism. Freeway and surface street traffic will likely be the worst in the early evening and late night hours, when the various games and concerts start and end.

What’s happening?

This weekend, the four sporting events cross different leagues are:

• Lakers vs. Suns at Crypto.com Arena on Friday at 7 p.m.
• Dodgers vs. Yankees at Dodger Stadium on Friday and Saturday, both starting at 5:08 p.m.
• L.A. Kings vs. Utah Hockey Club at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday at 1 p.m.
• L.A. Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Doane Liu, the city’s chief tourism officer, said that’s close to breaking a record L.A. set in 2018. There are also high-profile concerts and other sports games, all falling on a popular weekend for Halloween festivities.

• David Gilmour at Intuit Dome on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
• USC vs. Rutgers at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Friday at 8 p.m.
• East L.A. Classic (Garfield High School vs. Roosevelt High School) at Sofi Stadium on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
• Jeff Lynne’s Elo at the Kia Forum on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Imagine Dragons at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m.

Bass said L.A.’s jam-packed schedule is practice for when the city hosts the Olympics in 2028. She also said the city is used to being in the spotlight and routinely holds major events.

“The World Series is an opportunity for L.A.,” Bass said. “I just want to remind people, this is a championship city.”

What traffic plans will be in place?

The city of L.A.’s transportation department will have more than 100 white glove traffic officers spread across the city to direct cars.

Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager for the department, said they also have traffic management plans that include activating the reversible travel lanes at venues to make leaving easier, as well as strategically closing streets to reduce traffic in neighborhoods.

The LAPD and Los Angeles Fire Department will have more personnel stationed close to venues, too. Bass said she'll be activating the city’s emergency operations center, which serves as a hub for various agencies to work together during large-scale events.

What’s Metro doing to help with traffic issues?

Edna Stanley, Metro deputy chief operations officer, said the agency is upping the amount of Dodgers express shuttles running, which is free to use if you have a game ticket.

“We’re doubling it for the World Series traveling to the games and then leaving the games,” she said.

The shuttles will start three hours ahead of the opening pitch. Union Station’s shuttle will run to Dodger Stadium at least every five to seven minutes. The Harbor Gateway shuttle to the stadium will also run every 20 to 30 minutes.

Good to know: The shuttle service is getting renamed. Going forward, the Dodgers express shuttles will be named Line 34 in honor of team baseballer Fernando Valenzuela, who died Tuesday night and played with that number.

Metro will also run extra services on A, B, D, and E lines on Friday and Saturday night. TAP cards are available at 1,500 locations around the city (find the map here). You can also download the TAP app for a virtual card.