Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
JULY 15, 2026
Subject
SUBJECT: OPEN AND SLOW STREETS GRANT PROGRAM UPDATE
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATION
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
APPROVE the staff recommendation to provide assistance to local jurisdictions to use Local Return and TDA Article 3 as the only available funding for Open and Slow Street events occurring between September 2026 and March 2028.
Issue
ISSUE
At its December 2025, meeting, the Board approved an amendment <https://boardagendas.metro.net/board-report/2025-0854/> to the Open and Slow Streets report by Directors Horvath, Dutra, Solis, Hahn, Sandoval, and Yaroslavsky to direct the Chief Executive Officer to report back with a series of recommendations and analysis related to the Open and Slow Streets Program. This report provides a staff recommendation and response to the Board’s direction.
Background
BACKGROUND
Metro’s Open and Slow Streets grant program was created in 2013 with the goals of helping people experience public transportation, walking, and biking potentially for the first time. The program aims to encourage the adoption of sustainable transportation modes and promote community engagement to develop policies and infrastructure for multiple modes of transportation with an emphasis on advancing equity. Since 2013, the Open and Slow Streets Grant Program has proceeded through seven funding cycles, committing funding to 113 events through a competitive process.
In 2025, Metro revised the program criteria and goals for Cycles 6 and 7 to further encourage active transportation and transit usage both during and beyond Open and Slow Streets events, and connections to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
At its December 2025 meeting, the Board approved the award of $10 million under Cycles 6 and 7 of the Open and Slow Streets Grant Program, and amended the to direct the CEO to report back on the following series of recommendations and analysis related to the Open and Slow Streets Program:
1. Make Metro’s Open and Slow Streets pilot program permanent, including soliciting input from community stakeholders, previous event organizers, and partnering agencies to identify recommendations to transition the Metro Open and Slow Streets Program from a pilot to a permanent program;
2. Initiate an abbreviated Open and Slow Streets Grant Cycle and identify a minimum of $1 million to support waitlisted and/or new events that celebrate the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games that will occur between September 2026 and March 2028; and
3. Offer technical assistance, including but not limited to the identification of alternative sources of funding and partnering on external grant applications, to support agencies and organizations that were waitlisted or ineligible for funding in the Open and Slow Streets Grant Program Cycles Six and Seven.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
In considering both a permanent Open and Slow Streets program, as well as an interim program to support events between the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, staff emphasized funding availability and cost effectiveness relative to intended program outcomes. The resulting recommended approach will encourage the use of eligible and broadly available unprogrammed local funding for events between September 2026 and March 2028, and lay the groundwork for future cycles whereby Metro resources support specific objectives that will facilitate successful and self-sustaining open streets programming.
The staff-recommended approaches to addressing this Board amendment aim to operationalize the existing goals of the Open and Slow Streets Program by employing the following three guiding principles for the future Program, as follows:
1. Establish sustainable funding between Metro and partners that enable local jurisdictions to host civic events on a regular, more frequent schedule.
2. Tie civic events to more distinct, measurable outcomes, such as improved transit ridership, and active transportation usage.
3. Link events happening at the same locations to local jurisdictions making progress on installing permanent or semi-permanent active transportation infrastructure investments, complete streets, and equitable outcomes.
Detailed staff responses to the Board-directed three actions necessitating this report back are included below:
A. Make Metro’s Open and Slow Streets pilot program permanent, including soliciting input from community stakeholders, previous event organizers, and partnering agencies to identify recommendations to transition the Metro Open and Slow Streets Program from a pilot to a permanent program.
Staff response:
Staff conducted extensive engagement with program stakeholders to inform Cycles 6 and 7, funding events in 2026 and 2028. Development of the program recommendations for Cycle 8 will involve continued dialogue with stakeholders and community members, as well as extensive evaluation of the Cycle 6 and 7 funded events. Cycle 8 recommendations will be presented to the Board in 2028, with specific eligible dates for funded events to be determined. In recommending a permanent program, staff will consider program models to emphasize cost-efficiency in relation to intended program outcomes, including potentially moving away from a competitive grant program. Staff has also pursued initial fact finding and engagement to inform these considerations, including a discussion with the City of Bogota, Colombia, where the open streets concept was initiated and which has provided extensive weekly open streets for over 40 years.
Considerations:
Through the first seven cycles, the Open and Slow Streets program has been successful in catalyzing popular civic events with broad reach across Los Angeles County. A 2020 evaluation report cites varied success of the program in achieving a 10% increase in Metrorail ridership on event days, with an 11% increase in TAP card sales on Open Streets Sundays depending on the location. Staff is in the process of developing a new report for 2026 with greater breadth and more updated data.
At the same time, the competitive grant model is time and resource intensive both for Metro staff and applicants without necessarily leading to better outcomes. Additionally, recent cycles have been marked by consistent increases in costs for event staffing, insurance, and other categories, with a significant portion of overall budgets comprised of public safety/law enforcement costs. In making recommendations for the future, staff will give strong consideration to non-competitive approaches including a sponsorship model and will recommend an approach that offers the best return on investment. Staff has conducted initial comparison to marketing and sponsorship arrangements, which will be further assessed to inform upcoming recommendations. At this time, staff considers sponsorship models compelling, especially in establishing return on investment metrics (e.g. for transit ridership impact per dollar invested). Development of a permanent program model will emphasize the following objectives (and may be inclusive of other objectives informed by stakeholder engagement):
• Transit ridership: Open streets should, and do, result in increased day-of-event ridership. Additionally, open streets are an opportunity to introduce first-time or infrequent riders to the Metro system, however, there is limited data on whether the events produce sustained ridership. Metro staff will be conducting surveys at future events to determine if the temporary increases in ridership also create sustained ridership.
• Permanent active transportation infrastructure: Open streets demonstrate the value of providing safe and enjoyable space for cycling and walking. They should prompt and support local agency efforts to improve permanent or semi-permanent walk/bike/roll infrastructure.
• Facilitation of regularly occurring open streets comparable to more established programs around the world: The benefits of open streets are best achieved through establishing a regular, predictable cadence of events. This goal is linked to the intent to explore and promote cost-efficiencies through regular staffing models, introduction of semi-permanent infrastructure (such as sunken bollards to readily close streets to traffic), and other practices.
B. Initiate an abbreviated Open and Slow Streets Grant Cycle and identify a minimum of $1 million to support waitlisted and/or new events that celebrate the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games that will occur between September 2026 and March 2028.
Staff Response:
Staff will work with prospective event sponsors for events between September 2026 and March 2028 to identify and secure funding from unprogrammed local sources. Funding is broadly available in locally programmed categories, including Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3, and Local Return from various sales tax measures, as discussed below.
Considerations:
The Board’s direction to consider an interim cycle to fund events between the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028 necessitates identification of available funding for this purpose. The Board’s authorized funding of $10 million for Cycles 6 and 7 was fully committed by the December awards. Staff’s investigation concluded that while there is not eligible, available funding among sources directly programmed by Metro, there is substantial highly-flexible funding available through sources programmed by local agencies, notably TDA Article 3 and Local Return from various sales tax measures.
Within all Metro-controlled funding sources, only Proposition C Ordinance 25% (PC25) funds are eligible to fund open and slow street events. This source has been utilized for all prior, as well as current Cycle 6 and 7, open and slow streets grants. As described below, PC25 cannot be made available for additional open and slow streets funding without disrupting other high-priority commitments. PC25 funds facilitate transit and rideshare modes through supportive investments, including maintenance of roadways with transit service. It is a fully subscribed funding source in the adopted budget and the Short Range and Long Range Transportation Plans. Currently, a minimum of $70,200,000 is allocated across the Vermont Transit Corridor, NextGen bus priority lanes, Rideshare, Freeway Service Patrol Redirecting PC25 for open and slow streets events would have detrimental impacts for these competing uses. For instance, the Freeway Service Patrol program tows/assists disabled vehicles and removes roadway hazards; $1 million equates to approximately 6,900 assists in LA County. The Rideshare program matches commuters for carpooling and vanpooling and $1 million is associated with a reduction of approximately 21 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Mobility hubs, which provide multimodal connections to transit, cost approximately $3-15 million each and $1 million can contribute to the total project cost. An additional $108 million of PC25 funding is budgeted for debt service repayment for bonds issued for capital projects and cannot be redirected.
Conversely, Local Return and TDA Article 3 funding are highly flexible and broadly available (uncommitted) across most Los Angeles County jurisdictions, including applicants for the recent Cycle 6 and 7 solicitation. Attachments A and B detail the availability of funding in these sources. Attachment C details eligibility of those funds to support Open and Slow Streets events. The staff proposed approach will include hands-on assistance to local jurisdictions in confirming availability, assessing and navigating trade-offs, and assistance in pursuing additional external funding as appropriate.
Additional description of funding sources assessed is included in the Background section of this report
C. Offer technical assistance, including but not limited to the identification of alternative sources of funding and partnering on external grant applications, to support agencies and organizations that were waitlisted or ineligible for funding in the Open and Slow Streets Grant Program Cycles Six and Seven.
Staff Response:
Staff will provide technical assistance to event sponsors focused on identifying and programming available funding, coordinating event logistics and planning, and disseminating best practices tied to program objectives.
Considerations:
Debriefs and technical assistance for discussions with Cycle 6 and 7 applicants and awardees are ongoing. Staff will offer one-on-one sessions with applicants, and, notably, will provide up-to-date information on available TDA Article 3 funding by jurisdiction. Staff will expand and refine on-going technical assistance efforts to focus on:
• Identifying and securing funding
• Grant writing assistance as appropriate
• Disseminating best practices for event production and cost control and achievement of specified objectives such as maximizing transit ridership
• Coordination with Metro functions including transit operations
• Disseminating lessons learned from evaluations of Cycle 6 and 7 events
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This recommendation will not impact Metro's FY27 budget. Local Return and TDA Article 3 are not eligible to fund Metro bus and rail operations.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
The recently awarded Cycles 6 and 7 of the Open and Slow Streets Grant Program give residents of Los Angeles County, especially those in Equity Focus Communities (EFC), the opportunity to walk, bike, or roll through their neighborhoods. Of the 29 proposed projects recommended for funding in Cycles 6 and 7, 25 (86%) are located in EFCs. By hosting Open Streets events in EFCs, community members from disadvantaged areas will also have the chance to enjoy car-free activities. .
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled _Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
VMT and VMT per capita in Los Angeles County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit.* Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
As part of these ongoing efforts, this item will contribute to further reductions in VMT. This item supports Metro’s systemwide strategy to reduce VMT through investment activities that will help further encourage transit ridership and active transportation. Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets were designed to build on the success of existing investments, and this item aligns with those objectives.
The Open and Slow Streets program encourages and promotes using transit and active transportation. Because the Metro Board has adopted an agency-wide VMT Reduction Target, and this item directly encourages transit and active transportation, this item is consistent with the goals of reducing VMT.
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Cycles 6 and 7 of the Open and Slow Streets Grant Program support the third goal of Metro’s strategic plan. The program seeks to promote car-free and car-light mobility options within local communities, giving them opportunities to experience these transportation modes in a safe environment. This helps Metro encourage sustainable transportation choices through open streets events. Additionally, these events enable Metro staff, through outreach activities such as staffing information booths at Open Streets events, to share the latest information and address any questions from the communities they serve.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board could choose not to approve the staff recommended action to exclude PC25 as a funding source for Open and Slow Street events occurring between September 2026 and March 2028. Staff does not recommend this as PC25 funds are constrained and fully subscribed for high-priority investments.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
The Cycle 8 program recommendations will be presented to the Board in 2028 and will be based upon feedback from program stakeholders and community members, as well as extensive evaluation of the Cycle 6 and 7 funded events.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Local Return (LR) Fund Balances & Revenues for FY25
Attachment B - TDA3 Fund Balances & Revenues for FY26
Attachment C - Open and Slow Streets & Transit-First Fan Zones Funding Sources Available to Local Jurisdictions in Los Angeles County
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Neha Chawla, Senior Director, Countywide Planning and Development, (213) 922-3984
Jacob Lieb, Deputy Executive Officer, Countywide Planning and Development, (213) 547-4272
Avital Barnea, Senior Executive Officer, Countywide Planning and Development, (213) 547-4317
Nicole Ferrara, Deputy Chief Planning Officer, Countywide Planning and Development, (213) 547-4322
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Ray Sosa, Chief Planning Officer, Countywide Planning and Development, (213) 547-4274
