SoCal city eyes high-speed coastal ferry linking beach towns ahead of 2028 Olympics

Long Beach is pushing ahead with a high-speed coastal ferry plan that would connect Southern California beach communities from Malibu to the South Bay ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The proposed “Pier-to-Pier” network would serve seven destinations: Long Beach, San Pedro, Redondo Beach Harbor, Venice Pier, Marina del Rey, Santa Monica Pier and Malibu Pier. The city says the project has an operational partnership with Harbor Breeze, a California-licensed maritime operator, to help launch and support long-term reliability. Rainbow Harbor is expected to be the initial Long Beach docking point, with Belmont Pier and Alamitos Bay under consideration. The city has also approved an $8.9 million budget supporting Belmont Pier upgrades, and the memo cites a Malibu-to-Santa Monica travel time of about 18 minutes by ferry versus 32+ by car.