A month after Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn floated the idea of a water taxi between San Pedro and Long Beach to ferry passengers during the 2028 LA Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the idea sailed through an LA Metro committee on Wednesday, May. 14.

The proposed water taxi idea received a 6-0 vote of the LA Metro Ad-Hoc Committee on the Olympic & Paralympic Games, meaning the transit agency will launch a feasibility study to determine if this ferry service will be a workable transit option for spectators, tourists and possibly athletes during the Olympics, and how LA Metro will pay for it.

While this is a major first step, a ferry service for the Olympic Games — possibly still running after the torch is extinguished — is not quite yet anchors away.

LA Metro will study the environmental footprint, safety measures, where to create new docks and terminals, how much it will cost to build and whether local, state, or federal funding — or some combination — will help pay for the startup and operation of a ferry between San Pedro and Long Beach.

A report will come back to the committee in three months. The feasibility study will come up for a vote of the full, 13-member LA Metro board of directors at its next meeting, May 22.

Hahn said the study will determine “what it will take to get this idea off the ground and into the water.”

Long Beach will be a key player in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, hosting 11 Summer Olympic Games events with venues dotted across its waterfront. The city will host the popular beach volleyball sport, along with other competitions including coastal rowing and sailing. Also, San Pedro may host an Olympic fan zone with live broadcasts of Olympic events.

“If we really want the 2028 Games to be ‘transit-first,’ we have to make transit fun for people and we can’t just rely on buses and trains,” said Hahn in a statement on April 15. “A water taxi would be a great time for visitors and residents alike and would keep traffic off our bridges.”

Fans could get to the Long Beach venues by taking the LA Metro J Line (Silver) to the harbor in San Pedro, where the water taxi would ferry them to Long Beach, thus avoiding freeway traffic and parking fees at venues, said Hahn.

She said in addition to reducing congestion in Long Beach and the South Bay during the Olympics, having a water taxi operated by LA Metro might introduce new customers to the transit agency. “Something like this could be their first experience they might have with a Metro-operated vessel,” she said.

An LA Metro staff report says San Pedro is a diverse community in southern L.A. County with “deep cultural roots” including Italian and Greek restaurants as well as ties to the Croatian-American population. The president of the Croatian Olympic Committee agreed to establish a Croatia House in San Pedro, which will serve as a gathering place for athletes, fans and local L.A. County residents.

LA Metro is looking at Long Beach Transit as a possible contractor, a system that already serves 17 million riders a year in Long Beach and across other South Bay and Gateway Cities in L.A. County.

Long Beach Transit has experience with moving passengers across Alamitos Bay and currently operates two water taxi services: the AquaBus, which roams the waters of Rainbow Harbor, and the AquaLink, with docking at the Queen Mary, the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Alamitos Bay Landing.

Support poured in from local unions and council members from Long Beach and city of Los Angeles. Mayor Karen Bass, who is a member of the committee, voted for the proposal.

Capt. Bruce Heyman, executive director of the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, which operates a youth sailing program using three tall ships, supports the idea of a water taxi in the breakwaters between the two cities. He said he’s spoken to officials at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach who also support the plan.

“There’s plenty of room in the water. We should all jump in,” he told the committee.

Others said a full closure of the Vincent Thomas Bridge for 16 months for a deck replacement project will begin in the summer of 2026 and take at least a year to complete. Some wanted the water taxi to open before the July 2028 Summer Olympics to help with congestion during the bridge closure.

“We have supported a water taxi especially given the congestion that will be caused by complete closure of the bridge,” said Diana Nave, chair of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council. “Let’s expedite this during the bridge closure.”

Others such as John Bagakis, owner of Big Nick’s Pizza in San Pedro, supported the idea saying it would be an economic boost to the business community. “I believe the harbor communities and waterfront are the most underrepresented assets Los Angeles has to offer,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Elise Swanson, president and CEO of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce. Swanson would like LA Metro to build the project and make it permanent.