LA Super Bowl Traffic Will Be Epic. Here Are Other Options To Get There And Back Again

Hopefully this won’t come as a shock: The Super Bowl is a very popular event and Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the U.S., and the Super Bowl is happening in L.A. County, so yeah — expect some delays.

Depending what your plans are for game day, it’s probably best to avoid the 405, 105 and 110 freeways in and around Inglewood for most of the day if you can.

We got pretty good at staying home these past couple years, just sayin’.

But if you have to get somewhere, leave way earlier than usual and be ready to see a lot of tail lights.

If you’re driving in Inglewood, the city has announced some streets will be closed or limited in the days leading up to — and during — the big game.

Here are some more options for getting to SoFi Stadium if you’re lucky or rich enough to afford a ticket.

Take Public Transit

If you want to avoid getting gouged on parking fees and losing a piece of your soul in bumper-to-bumper car traffic getting to/from the stadium, you have some public transit options (then again, if you’re shelling out like $10,000 for your Super Bowl ticket, what’s a few hundred more to park your car?).

Los Angeles County’s regional transit system, known locally as L.A. Metro, is running free bus shuttles to the stadium from the Hawthorne/Lennox station on the C Line (formerly but still locally known as the Green Line).

Metro officials say the shuttle trips will begin at 10:45 a.m. on game day and run every five to eight minutes.

Metro also runs some bus lines in the area:

• The 115 bus line runs along Manchester Boulevard. Use the Manchester/Prairie stop for SoFi Stadium.
• The 117 line runs along Century Boulevard. Use the Century/Prairie stop for SoFi Stadium.
• The 212 line runs along La Brea Avenue and Prairie Avenue Prairie/Arbor Vitae stop for SoFi Stadium.

Unfortunately, those buses will be crawling in the same traffic as everyone else. Plus, Metro’s bus reliability has had some issues lately, to put it lightly.

Just like inside the venue, face coverings are required on Metro trains and buses.

Ride Your Bike

There’s one zero-emission vehicle you can park outside the stadium for free. Sorry Tesla and other electric car drivers — we’re talking about a little piece of technology from the 19th century.

Bike racks can be found “along the exterior of the stadium for you to park and lock your bike,” according to the stadium’s website, though bikes aren’t allowed in the central plaza.

So you could bring your bike on the C Line to either the Hawthorne/Lennox or Crenshaw station, then ride the last couple miles up to the stadium, past all the people waiting to pay to park their cars and roll up to one of the bike racks, which look to be fairly close to the stadium entrance.

And even though there’ll be a lot of security, you can’t go wrong with two bike locks.

Park And Ride

You might also consider driving to a Metro station with parking, then riding the line to Inglewood.

Parking is available at a few C Line stations:

• Hawthorne/Lennox – $40, but passes are already being sold and sale will end either when the lot is sold out or 12 hours prior to the game. To purchase parking passes at this station, click here. 
• Crenshaw – $5 payable on site
• Aviation – $10 payable on site
• Norwalk – free
• Redondo Beach – free

The nearby city of Gardena also runs a bus to SoFi stadium every 15 minutes. The GTrans bus can take you to SoFi Stadium from the Harbor Gateway Transit Center. That center has 980 parking spaces for $5 (payable on-site).

Rideshare And Taxi

If you plan to take Lyft or Uber — or kick it old school in a taxi — to and/or from the stadium, the dropoff and pickup area is located on Kareem Court, north of the stadium.

If you plan to get a rideshare or taxi to leave once the game is over, plan on a long wait and a steep surcharge. And face coverings are still required locally in rideshare vehicles.

You can find more information about parking, rideshare and other transportation on the Super Bowl’s website.

Why Not Walk?

For able-bodied football fans, your legs can get you there. You’ll spend a lot of time sitting down, drinking beer and downing hot dogs, so why not get a little cardio in before and after?

It’s roughly two miles from the Hawthorne / Lennox Station Metro station to SoFi Stadium, so if you want to avoid the line for the shuttle, you can brave a SoCal “winter” on foot (temperatures are forecasted to hit the low-80s in Inglewood Sunday).

My colleague Carla Javier tried out the public transit option to the NFC Championship game at SoFi Stadium a couple weekends ago and ended up walking to the stadium from the Metro station (though she wished she’d waited for the shuttles).

Break The Bank

If you’re planning on driving and parking AT OR NEAR THE SUPER BOWL be ready to pay top dollar. My colleague Caitlin Hernández has a breakdown of your options.

The Game And Halftime Show

Right, the reason for all the excitement!

• Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. here in L.A.
• The hometown L.A Rams (15-5) take on the Cincinnati Bengals (13-7)
• Get up-to-speed with our bandwagon fan's guide to the Rams.
• And get ready for the L.A.-centric halftime show with our L.A. guide to that very elaborate preview video.