As the Los Angeles area scrambles to prepare for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, officials have indicated that they will need more than $3 billion to improve transportation in the greater county area. Despite this concern, a local council of governments is diverting tax money designated for transportation projects to build a new fiber broadband network.
The Las Virgenes-Malibu Council of Governments (LVMCOG) announced in October it will launch a 45-mile fiber optic network to provide additional broadband access across its five member cities. These include Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu, and Westlake Village. The goal of the $11.5 million network is to enhance communication for public agencies, including public safety and schools.
However, Broadband Now shows that Malibu is currently serviced with gigabit internet by Spectrum to 87 percent of residents and EarthLink to more than 85 percent of residents. Spectrum already covers more than 95 percent of Calabasas residences with gigabit speeds.
LVMCOG recently released a request for proposals from qualified contractors, vendors, and service providers to manage the network’s operation. The council hopes to complete the final design soon, with construction to begin in early 2025.
The fiber network will be completely funded by Los Angeles County Measure M, a ballot initiative intended to pay for transportation projects across the area. The stated goal of the funds is “to ease traffic, repair local streets and sidewalks, expand public transportation, earthquake retrofit bridges and subsidize transit fares for students, seniors and persons with disabilities.” Measure M, approved in 2016, tacks on an additional half-cent sales tax with no sunset provision.
Trying to justify the expenditure, LVMCOG says its fiber project will “aid traffic signal coordination across the region.” It’s questionable that more than 71 percent of Los Angeles County voters would have approved the measure if they had known transportation funds would be shuffled into projects like this one.
This isn’t the first time a funds diversion has occurred. In 2019, the South Bay Council of Governments (an association of 15 cities in Los Angeles County) siphoned off $6.9 million to build a middle-mile dark fiber network between their communities. The South Bay COG argued there was a “transportation nexus” between the fiber network and the region’s transportation needs. However, in reality, the fiber network was an overbuild of existing networks, and connected government buildings were already served by private provider fiber. Move LA, a local transportation advocacy organization, has asked the LA Metro Inspector General to audit the South Bay COG project.
Malibu has more pressing issues than new fiber. The city, whose main thoroughfare is the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), has experienced numerous traffic accidents in recent years. California’s Senate Bill 1297, which called for the installation of speed cameras at critical locations on PCH in Malibu, noted that 59 people have been killed in vehicle accidents along the PCH in Malibu since 2010. This includes four Pepperdine students standing on the side of the highway who were killed by a driver who lost control of their vehicle in October 2023. SB 1297 passed and was signed into law in September.
Los Angeles had 343 traffic fatalities last year, a record number and the third consecutive year of increases. according to Crosstown LA.
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In addition to the issue of transportation safety, Los Angeles County leaders must figure out ways to alleviate traffic congestion prior to the two upcoming worldwide athletic events. The Los Angeles Times reported that officials anticipate that buses will be the workhorse for transportation at the 2028 Olympics. In fact, Mayor Karen Bass has unrealistically promised a “car free” games. The Times noted that the daily crowd in 2028 is likely to be equivalent to the number of people at seven simultaneous Super Bowls.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority says a supplemental bus system could cost as much as $1 billion, and they haven’t identified how to pay for it. In all, Metro has a wish list of $3.3 billion in projects they claim are needed to make the Olympics run smoothly, and only 5 percent of that is currently funded. These projects include improvements to Metro stations near athletic venues and the addition of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Los Angeles County suffers some of the worst gridlock in the United States. Officials should focus their transportation funds on projects that will help alleviate traffic issues rather than use the taxpayer money for duplicative pet projects like the LVMCOG fiber network.
Johnny Kampis is director of telecom policy for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance