Fans in car-centric LA embracing buses and trains for World Cup

LOS ANGELES, June 27 : On every World Cup match day, tens of thousands of American and foreign fans are piling into Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to ride special buses straight to the Inglewood stadium, while thousands more watch in the Fan Zone inside and outside the ornate Art Deco station. 

As soon as a bewildered soccer fan arrives, there are "ambassadors" there to help them find their way to the buses or Fan Zone, or if they are feeling overcome by stress or heat, lead them to "calming pods" and hydration centres. 

"We've had folks come in who are overwhelmed by all the sounds and the activity happening at the station," said Armando Roman, a manager in LA Metro's civil rights, racial equity and inclusion and accessibility group.

"We've also had folks who have come in and used it to pray, we've also had folks come in and breast-feed, all types of different reasons."

LA Metro, the public transit authority, is not making lots of money from the World Cup. Each round trip to the stadium costs $3.50, with hundreds of staff being hired for the extra efforts, with buses being clad in World Cup livery, and with traffic control and security around the stadium making transport logistics even more than the daily L.A. struggle.

But for LA Metro, doubling down on the World Cup opportunity is part of its declared strategy of "building the most ambitious transportation infrastructure program in the United States."

For a city world-renowned for freeways and car culture, drawing visiting football fans into the system has not been a challenge for those who have researched the situation.

"We didn't want to sit in traffic and this was a lot less expensive," said Crystal Gristina, 46, from New Orleans, who was heading to Thursday's