• Podcasts
  >
• Society & Culture >

Life’s too short for small talk. Rachel gets right to the questions that matter most. Once a week, famous guests pull questions from a deck of cards and open up about the kind of stuff we all think about but rarely say out loud. Actors, authors, and thinkers are prompted to talk about everything from their insecurities and dreams to grief and God. Named one of the 10 best podcasts of 2024 by The New York Times, Wild Card stands out among celebrity interview podcasts. When modern life feels chaotic or overwhelming, listen to Wild Card for a joyful, grounding reminder of our shared humanity.

Want to listen to Wild Card sponsor-free? Support NPR by subscribing to Wild Card+. Learn more at plus.npr.org/wildcard.

• NPR App
• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Amazon Music
• iHeartRadio
• Youtube Music
• RSS link

Have you been keeping up with all the drama of Summer House? The cast of the Bravo reality series is currently embroiled in a scandal involving Kyle Cooke, Amanda Batula, West Wilson and Ciara Miller. We’re unpacking why people in and outside the Bravo fandom can’t stop talking about Summer House, what drives the drama of Bravo, and where the franchise might go from here. 

Do you like messy and fun reality shows? Check out these episodes:

We’re taking a chaotic trip to ‘Love Island,’ babe

‘Vanderpump Rules,’ ‘Scandoval’ and a fight that never ends

Connect with Pop Culture Happy Hour:

Letterboxd / Facebook

Our weekly newsletter

Support Pop Culture Happy Hour+

In a perfect world, you’d be able to take a helicopter from your home straight to Sofi Stadium during the World Cup. But unfortunately, we do not live in that world, so you’ll probably need to find a reliable and cheap way to get to the World Cup.

Fans from all around will flock to the Los Angeles area for the biggest sport event in the world, meaning that traffic will be worse (if you can imagine), buses will be fuller and Metro stops will drown in the flags and jerseys of all competing nations.

But Metro is offering a bit of reprieve: The system will partner with 13 other regional transit agencies to get fans to Sofi Stadium (which FIFA is referring to as Los Angeles Stadium). Starting Friday, nine transit hubs, including Union Station, Crenshaw Station and downtown Long Beach, will host shuttles that provide direct access to the stadium for $1.75 each way, according to Metro.

For an additional cost of $60 to $150, you can park your car outside of the World Cup service station shuttle stops. If that seems steep, consider yourself lucky: Official SoFi Stadium parking starts at $100 and can get as high as $300 for the best spots, and unofficial parking around Inglewood might be hard to come by.

If you want a list that keeps the most green in your pocket, this is your guide. Here are the best ways we found to get to SoFi Stadium/Los Angeles Stadium at the lowest possible cost and highest convenience. Just remember to give yourself plenty of time in case of unexpected travel delays and to have a contactless payment method handy for Metro fees. Also, be open to going on an adventure in terms of how you get to Inglewood.

Westside

Direct bus service from the Westside to SoFi Stadium is centralized around the downtown Santa Monica World Cup service station.

This is one of the more transit-accessible service stations, with three options of arrival: the Metro E Line, which has stops from East L.A. to Santa Monica; Big Blue Bus lines 2, 9 and 43, which come from Westwood, Pacific Palisades and Mid-City, respectively; and Metro Bus lines 20 and 720 coming from downtown L.A.

The journey via the direct shuttle will be around 40 minutes each way.

Traffic will be heavy on the Westside due to an influx of fan events and peak beach traffic. If you can’t catch a bus and don’t want to waste your time in a car, using a metered bike, like Lime or Metro Bike Share, might save you some time getting to the station in downtown Santa Monica.

For fans arriving at the service station in cars, parking is slightly less expensive than it is at the Culver City stop, starting at $73.33 plus fees. (Otherwise, you can try Waymo, Uber or Lyft to get to the station or directly go to SoFi Stadium, if you’re willing to deal with high traffic and higher prices.)

Metro service to the stadium will begin four hours before the matches, and five hours before the U.S. and Paraguay match on Friday.

Central L.A.

Unfortunately for soccer fans in Central L.A., they will face one of the most-crowded service station stops closest to downtown at Union Station.

Lucky for them, though, they will have several options to get to the Union Station hub without a hitch.

Chinatown and downtown L.A. residents will be able to access the station via ride share, Metro rail or on foot. For anyone outside of the region, all of Metro’s rail lines connect through Union Station, which has a 40-minute direct bus to SoFi Stadium.

Union Station parking will be $65 on a first-come, first-serve basis. Therefore, it might be better to hop on a bus or use rail to get to the Metro hub. Depending on where you’re coming from, you can choose from Amtrak, Metrolink, Metro Rail and Metro Bus.

The Union Station stop will work best for people staying near a transit stop with direct access to Union Station.

South L.A.

Metro’s K Line makes its way along Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Advertisement

South L.A. might be one of the easier regions for World Cup access because it sits close to some of the best transit connections feeding SoFi Stadium. Soccer fans in neighborhoods like Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Hyde Park, Baldwin Hills and Westmont will have shuttle access to SoFi via the Crenshaw Station stop and K Line corridor.

For many riders in South L.A., the easiest move will be going to a nearby rail station, taking the C Line toward Los Angeles International Airport and then using the direct World Cup service toward the stadium.

East L.A.

The Metro 70 bus enters downtown, heading from Boyle Heights.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Advertisement

Eastside riders would be best served by riding the E Line in Maravilla to the Union Station shuttles, which provides the shortest possible ride from the Boyle Heights and East L.A. area.

Another smart move would be boarding the E Line and riding west to the Expo/Crenshaw stop and taking the shuttle from there. If you’d rather stay on a train for longer and shorten your trip on the shuttle, then you can transfer to the K Line from Crenshaw Station toward LAX/Metro Transit Center.

Traffic will be lighter on the Eastside, so ride-share with Uber or Lyft to the nearest rail line that takes you to Union Station. Or take a Metro bus to downtown L.A. and make your way to Union Station.

There will be no on-site parking for LAX/Metro Transit Center, but parking at nearby hotels ranges from $50 to $150.

South Bay

Soccer fans in the South Bay will be the closest to the games outside of South L.A., with 25-minute-or-less shuttle drives from the El Camino College, Torrance Transit Center and Harbor Gateway World Cup service stops.

Harbor Gateway would work best for the park-and-ride travelers, with a price of $65. But if you don’t have a car, it would serve you well to head to the LAX/Metro Transit Center via the Metro C Line and Metro Micro. Once you get to the LAX stop, it is a 15-minute ride directly to the stadium.

Again, remember there will be no on-site parking for LAX/Metro Transit Center.

San Gabriel Valley

The San Gabriel Valley has strong rail and bus links to downtown L.A., so getting to Union Station would likely be the best bet if you live in this area.

Hop on the A Line and go to Union Station for the most direct route to a World Cup service station shuttle.

If you’re farther south or west in the San Gabriel Valley, in neighborhoods including Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel or Rosemead, you’ll have better bus connections to Union Station or to a transfer station than a straight rail trip.

Parking at Union Station is limited and will cost $100 or more for reservations.

San Fernando Valley

For the San Fernando Valley, the best World Cup options are the North Hollywood Station for the eastside of the Valley and Pierce College Metro Station for the westside of the Valley.

The key for the San Fernando Valley is to skip the stadium parking and use Metro’s direct shuttle service from two Valley anchor points: North Hollywood Station for the east and central Valley and Pierce College Station for the westside.

To get there, fans in the Valley can either use a ride-share app or take a bus to either hub.

If you absolutely need your car to get to the service station, it’ll cost you about $55 plus fees for parking at the North Hollywood Station and the Pierce College Station.

Long Beach and Orange County

Long Beach and Orange County soccer fans have two main hubs for the World Cup: Downtown Long Beach Station for the south, and ARTIC Anaheim station for central and north. Both are direct-service locations, so you get a no-transfer ride to SoFi Stadium and avoid the traffic.

You can roll in by train, bus or car (and park if you need to), and board the shuttle straight to SoFi. However, the downtown Long Beach and ARTIC Anaheim stations will be best for car commuters, with parking starting at $10.50 a day.

Since parking can fill up fast, arriving early is the best move. With service starting up to four hours before kickoff and running about 90 minutes after the match, you’ve got plenty of time to grab a bite, mingle with other fans and still make it to your seat without a headache from traffic.