A water taxi connecting San Pedro and Long Beach during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games remains technically feasible, according to a new Metro report. However, the agency says the project is unlikely to launch in time for the games without a funding source that has yet to materialize.
The report, presented on July 16 to Metro’s Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee, summarized an industry outreach process the agency conducted following the Board’s December 2025 approval of Motion 18. The motion, authored by LA County Supervisor and Metro Director Janice Hahn and other board members, directed staff to gauge operator interest and report back on funding and implementation options.
Metro’s April Request for Information drew six responses, including from Harbor Breeze Cruises, Hornblower Yachts, and PROP SF/Artemis. The report identifies two respondents as “feasible turn-key operators” interested in running the service, while others offered components such as vessels or ticketing. Estimated costs for the 47-day Olympic and Paralympic period range from $950,000 to $1.535 million, based on operator proposals, roughly matching Metro’s earlier feasibility study estimate.
Despite that interest, the report is clear about the project’s prospects for the Games:
“Considering the findings outlined above, including the absence of dedicated funding, implementation of a water taxi service by the 2028 Games is highly unlikely. However, if local jurisdictions were to allocate their Local Return funding and decide to move forward with the service, a potential implementation timeline, as requested in Motion 18, is presented in Table 3. The schedule below assumes an aggressive procurement timeline, with RFP development beginning in October 2026 and a Notice-to-Proceed issued by July 2027.”
The Olympic-timeline scenario, in other words, remains on the table, but only if the City of LA, the City of Long Beach, or LA County direct a portion of their Local Return funds, dollars already available to each jurisdiction for local transportation use, toward the water taxi. No jurisdiction has committed funding to date, and most grants typically used for ferry service target capital projects rather than short-term operations.
If funding comes in on that schedule, Metro’s timeline calls for RFP development from October through December 2026, a board-awarded contract by June 2027, and service beginning by the Olympics’ opening ceremony in July 2028, ending that August.
Hahn, in a statement responding to the report, cited operator interest as validation of the concept. “This report confirms what I’ve believed from the beginning: a water taxi between San Pedro and Long Beach isn’t just a fun idea—it’s a realistic one, and we have experienced operators who want to make it happen,” she said.
Metro staff said they will continue overseeing conditions affecting the project’s timeline and financing, though the report identifies no funding commitment currently in place to meet the Olympic deadline.
You can read Metro’s full report here.
You can also read Lee Williams’ column from November 2025, recapping the water taxi demo. spt
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