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Amid all of L.A.’s traffic doomers, I wanted to believe that the World Cup wouldn’t be any more of a gridlocked nightmare than normal. After all, SoFi Stadium hosts at least 17 NFL games every fall, plus multi-night runs from the likes of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. And the World Cup? Technically the stadium (dubbed “Los Angeles Stadium” for the duration of the FIFA tournament) had to slightly lower its seating capacity to squeeze in the pitch, and the jacked-up parking prices and expanded public transit access should—in theory—ease some of congestion surrounding the stadium.
Fortunately, my optimism proved mostly right: The bottlenecks by SoFi during Friday night’s sold-out local opener felt like mostly routine event traffic, and thanks to Metro’s smoothly-coordinated fleet of $1.75 direct buses, I at least didn’t have to be the one with my foot hovering over the brake pedal. Unfortunately, that still means the surface streets around the Inglewood venue—especially postgame—were kind of miserable.
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Let’s start with the good—maybe even great. Whereas the shuttles for Rams games or major concerts run solely from the light rail stop near LAX, Metro and its partner agencies are operating World Cup buses that depart every 10 minutes from 13 mostly-transit-connected spots across L.A. County, as well as two in Orange County. And, at least for my Union Station–originating trip, I can’t say enough positive things about the organization at every step: Wayfinding signage was clear, the staff was friendly and helpful, and the buses were plentiful, clean and air conditioned.
There are, of course, some small catches: Yes, a bus ride only costs $1.75 each way, but unless you’re able to start your journey on another bus or rail line, you’re probably shelling out some extra cash for an Uber to or a parking spot at one of these bus stops, which ranges anywhere from $10 to $150. (Still considerably less than the $250-plus price tag for on-site parking—and the hundreds of dollars you’ve already spent on tickets.)
The shuttles also arrive at one of three separate drop-off and pickup locations depending on your route, but this location might not be the closest transit stop to your seat. The bulk of the routes gather south of the stadium at the Intuit East Garage on Century Boulevard, the Valley and Santa Monica ones opt for a lot across from the northwest corner of the Forum, and the Westside and South Bay buses pull into a lot along Prairie Avenue just west of the stadium (where the Rams shuttles normally disembark). The walks to the nearest security gate range from .2 to .5 miles, but that distance could double depending on which side of the stadium you need to trek over to.
Without dedicated bus lanes, you’re not avoiding any of that traffic.
Ultimately though, the buses’ worst sin is out of their control: They sit in the exact same traffic as everyone else. The blocks immediately surrounding SoFi Stadium come to a crawl before events and a near standstill following them; without dedicated bus lanes, you’re not avoiding any of that traffic (though you are, theoretically, doing your part to help get some cars off the road). Thankfully, Inglewood is moving forward with plans to open dedicated event-day bus lanes on Hawthorne Boulevard/La Brea Avenue and Arbor Vitae Street that are set to debut in time for the 2028 Olympics. But that won’t really provide much comfort when you’ve inched forward two blocks in 20 minutes on your way home from the World Cup.
Traffic will, of course, vary from match to match: The U.S. opener drew a sellout crowd that had to content with Friday rush hour traffic (though also gates that opened an extra hour earlier to accommodate the pregame ceremony). Monday’s match between Iran and New Zealand is likely to see far less demand, while something like Switzerland vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday has the benefit of a weekday afternoon kickoff.
If you’ve made it this far into the story, you’re probably the sort of transit-curious reader interested in a play-by-play of my World Cup commute, so allow me to unroll some timestamps. I was able to only try one of the 15 different bus routes, but I expect that many Angelenos—whether arriving by subway, light rail, bus, car, Metrolink or Amtrak—may also find themselves starting their trek from Union Station.
2:36pm
My journey began just before this, when my Uber arrived at Union Station at 2:28pm. Metro will advise you to get dropped off on the Vignes Street side (where I arrived), but I saw no issues with heading to the Alameda Street side instead, where the buses actually depart from.
So after a brief walk through the station, I tapped my credit card, boarded a bus at 2:36pm and started basking in the air conditioning. Videos from the very start of service that afternoon showed long lines to board, but I basically walked right on more than three hours before kickoff with a seemingly neverending queue of buses behind it ready to welcome more riders.
2:40pm
We only sat in park for a few minutes before the 20 of us on the bus—we all had seats—pulled away from the curb and started to crawl through Downtown L.A.’s early onset of Friday rush hour traffic. The bus lanes along that stretch of Cesar Chavez Avenue only marginally helped to move along the trip; it took 12 minutes just to get to the freeway entrance on Grand Avenue, only .7 miles away.
The110 freeway through DTLA had a similar grind in store until we reached the start of the ExpressLanes near USC. And any toll lane driver or bus commuter who routinely tackles this stretch knows this agony: It took 32 minutes to travel the 4.5 miles from Union Station to the start of the ExpressLanes, but only 12 minutes to travel the 10 miles from here to the Prairie Avenue exit on the 105.
3:24pm
While the trip so far has just been typical L.A. rush hour things, here we hit the event-at-SoFi gridlock. The bus merged toward the Prairie exit at 3:24pm, but it took 20 minutes from entering the ramp until we actually turned left onto the street—a mere half-mile distance. In fact, the ramp was at such a standstill that the already-buzzed dude near me had enough time to take a quick bathroom break off the bus and get back on before we made the turn.
The rest of the drive up Prairie was smooth until we neared the intersection with Century Boulevard at 3:39pm. It took a few light cycles just to make that right turn, and then another few minutes to inch along that final block.
3:48pm
By the time the bus pulled into its stop at the Intuit East Garage, across the street from the grounds surrounding SoFi Stadium, it was 3:48pm, a one hour and eight minute ride in total. Metro’s website estimates this as a 40-minute ride, and while my trip added an extra half hour onto that, I do think that 40-minute mark seems like a sensible prediction for a weekday afternoon or weekend match.
So I started my walk to the stadium, and if you’ll remember my spiel about the three separate bus stops, here’s where my feet started to put in some extra work. I happened to be in the farthest-south stop with seats on the very northeastern corner of SoFi, which would end up being a mile-long walk from bus to stadium seat. If I happened to have a seat on the western side of the stadium, it would’ve been about half that.
3:59pm
I reached the back of the security screening area at Gate E, and the lines—and midday sun—looked a bit overwhelming.
4:09pm
After only 10 minutes (about half of that to the tune of “U-S-A” chants) I had already cleared the keep-everything-in-your-pockets security screening and started hoofing it toward the stadium.
4:19pm
I scanned my ticket at entry five and started snaking my way along escalator after to escalator to get to my seat.
4:30pm
I plopped myself into my seat, just in time for the opening ceremony to start. When it was all said and done, it took me just shy of two hours from the time I sat on the bus to when I sat in my stadium seat.
6pm
Kickoff.
8:03pm
The match ended, with the United States’ 4–1 victory over Paraguay, and plenty of fans stayed firmly planted in place to celebrate.
8:15pm
I left my seat and walked in circles a bit before I found an exit tunnel and zigzag of escalators that was actually moving.
8:22pm
Fresh air. I started my hike back to the bus stop, but even as an assertive solo walker, the penned-in walkways, thick crowds and backed-up crosswalks (and tired legs) made the journey a bit slower than my arrival in the afternoon.
8:40pm
I made it back into the southern garage where the buses were departing from. There were plenty of buses lined up and barely a queue to get on them, but I don’t think I saw a single bus leave the garage for a sold 15-minute stretch, which initially held up boarding. I think this is where the post-victory lingering and long walk really set me back; if I had been able to book it to a closer stop, it’s possible I could’ve been on a bus before all area traffic came to a complete standstill.
9pm
I’m on a bus. I have a seat. But the bus isn’t moving yet. The lines of people waiting to board behind me have gotten longer but still seem manageable.
9:15pm
The bus escapes the parking area and turns onto 102nd Street.
9:22pm
The bus turns onto 104th Street. From boarding until now, it’s taken 22 minutes to go not even two blocks. But from here on out it’s smooth sailing the rest of the way.
10pm
We pull in front of Union Station and deboard.
10:01pm
After standing in a very short line for another $1.75 tap, I start the rest of my trip home. It’s been about an hour and 45 minutes since I left my seat at SoFi Stadium. For reference: I checked my camera roll from a Beyoncé concert at SoFi Stadium last year and from the time I left my seat until the time I wrapped up a just-barely-longer drive, it took me an hour and 20 minutes.