LOS ANGELES, 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES

The possibility of essentially congestion-free operation of the Los Angeles transportation system was not so evident when transportation agencies first assembled in 1982 to begin planning for 1984 Olympic traffic. On the freeway system alone, motorists experience daily congestion on nearly 225 of the 700 miles in the morning peak and 275 miles in the afternoon/evening peak. The Olympics would hit this system with an estimated 6 million spectators at 24 venues spread throughout the basin with events scheduled throughout the day and nearly 25,000 athletes, world media, and Olympic family members transported to the venues on set timetables. As planners had neither time nor money to develop major new transportation facilities, planning and managing Olympic traffic had to be accomplished essentially through transportation system management techniques. Also, it became evident that the success of any plan would depend upon the willingness of each transportation and law enforcement agency to perform its traditional functions in cooperation with each other. This paper presents a scenario of the entire project and concludes with a discussion of those factors that contributed the most to its success.