LOS ANGELES — One week before the 2024 Olympic Games will open in Paris, the host city of the 2028 games announced it is receiving $139 million to improve public transportation.

The Department of Transportation is providing the funds to Los Angeles to increase bus service, add multimodal transit options such as bike shares and improve accessibility on sidewalks and roads near rail stations and bus stops.

“A lot of people, when they think of LA, they of course think of cars — a lot of cars on a lot of freeways,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where Olympic track and field competitions will be held in 2028, just as they were in 1932 and 1984. “Cars are always going to be part of LA’s story, but in the last few years, it’s been extraordinary to see transit ridership growing. That’s a good thing.”

The investment announcement comes as Metro notched a 19th straight month of ridership increases after the COVID pandemic reduced the number of daily passengers from 1.2 million to 450,000. In June, Metro served 25 million rides, the agency said.

Funded through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law LA Mayor Karen Bass helped pass when she was in Congress, the funds add to $77 million the Department of Transportation announced last week for LA County to purchase new zero-emissions buses.

Besides adding more priority bus lanes, the new funds will increase bike and scooter-sharing stations, EV chargers and parking.

“We’re planning to make the 2028 Olympics transit-first games,” LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn said at Thursday’s event. “That means we want Metro to be your first choice to get to the venues across LA County, from Long Beah to Inglewood, to right here at the Coliseum.”

In the lead up to the 2028 Olympic Games, Los Angeles will host three other major sporting events: the 2026 World Cup, the 2026 NBA All Star Game and the 2027 Super Bowl.