Biden Talks Metro Purple Line, Local Jobs At Los Angeles Appearance

LOS ANGELES, CA — President Joe Biden on Thursday discussed plans for the LA Metro Purple (D Line) extension project during his short trip to Los Angeles, applauding the project for creating local jobs and combatting air pollution.

Biden held a news conference at a future Metro Purple Line stop located near the VA complex, one of three new sections expected to be completed by 2027. The president landed in Los Angeles Wednesday and was scheduled to leave Friday.

"Every year, people take more than 22 million rides on your subways, your light rail and your buses. It's how so many folks get to work, school, and how tourists explore this world-class city," Biden said. "But the transit system needs an upgrade, badly. You know that. We need to connect more neighborhoods, ease traffic congestion, air pollution, make it easier for people to get around to where they need to go."

Construction on the Metro Purple line extension started in 2019, and its newest extension will add seven stops in three sections between Downton Los Angeles and the Westside.

The first section includes stops along Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Fairfax Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard and is scheduled to open in 2024. In 2025, the second phase is expected open lines on Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive and Constellation Boulevard in Century City. The third phase is expected to finish in 2027 with stops near the University of California, Los Angeles and the VA Hospital.

Biden said that a trip from Koreatown to the VA hospital that would once take an hour by bus will take 25 minutes on rail.

"We expect to see nearly 80,000 more riders on Metro every day thanks to the Purple Line extension. Roughly 27,000 fewer car rides every day — it's going to effect pollution in a significant positive way. 124,000 fewer tons of carbon dioxide pumped into the air above Los Angeles every year," Biden said.

Despite being federally funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Metro project will prioritize local workers thanks to an infrastructure law provision spearheaded by Congresswoman Karen Bass. Biden called the mayoral hopeful "soon-to-be Ms. Mayor."

"Especially in a time when people are looking for work and our economy is in need of a push, it makes no sense that people living in our communities couldn't be prioritized for these jobs," Bass said. "And we know what a good paying job can mean, especially in Los Angeles when we have so many people sleeping on our streets."

Biden addressed a group of Metro workers and union leaders in the crowd at Thursday's news conference.

"This is more than a job, this is a career. And it allows me to provide for my three beautiful children and family" said Yurvina Hernandez, a Laborer Apprentice with Laborers Local 300 working on the third section of the Metro project. "I'll always be able to point to this and say, 'I helped build that.' Whenever I can, I tell women interested in working in construction that they should never be afraid to try something new, that's always been my attitude. And this is definitely something new."

Biden's visit comes just after he weighed in on the leaked racist audio involving three Los Angeles City Council members, Kevin de León, Gil Cedillo and Nury Martinez, all of whom Biden asked to step down. Only one person seemingly addressed the recent city hall controversy at Thursday's conference. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis called for unity amid a time of chaos.