The drive to Dodger Stadium on game days is often filled with brake lights and honking horns, the clogged streets causing headaches and late arrivals for fans eager to see their favorite baseball team.
Current alternative options do exist – with the “Dodger Stadium Express,” a bus ride for ticketed fans from Union Station, the most popular.
However, ex-Dodgers owner Frank McCourt introduced a novel idea in 2018. One that has since blossomed into a fully developed project on the verge of being implemented.
McCourt’s company has proposed a suspended aerial gondola system, which he says he would privately fund, that would connect Dodger Stadium to Union Station and Chinatown at Los Angeles State Historic Park. According to initial plans, the gondola would transport up to 5,000 people per hour in each direction on game days and take approximately seven minutes each way. Under the current plan, Metro Los Angeles would be in charge of the logistics.
On Thursday the Metro LA board voted to approve the environmental plans for the “Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Project,” the official name for the proposed Dodger Stadium gondola, after receiving a report from the Planning and Programming Committee which did not recommend the project.
The project has caused much debate among the L.A, Chinatown and Dodger communities regarding its long-term viability. Critics question the potential source of funding (the project is estimated by some to cost upwards of $500 million), whether or not the gondola would actually decrease traffic congestion, environmental concerns and gentrification of low-income communities.
Considering the history of Dodger Stadium’s development — thousands of Mexican Americans were displaced from their homes in the 50s to allow for the construction — many community members, including Lisa Hart, executive director of the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, are skeptical.
“Find out if it makes sense to proceed at all,” Hart said at the meeting. “Take a real look at the alternatives. A fair inclusive process is a good place to start.
“Otherwise, you are at risk of perpetuating another Bishop, La Loma and Palo Verde,” she continued, referencing the communities impacted by the stadium’s original construction.
Other speakers focused on a report published by the UCLA Mobility Lab that found that the project would remove about 608 cars on sold-out game days: a “very limited” impact.
“I feel for local residents who have been misled about the benefits of this project,” UCLA professor Jon Christensen said at the meeting. “It’s not a solution for traffic. The environmental review process has been inaccurate.”
Andy Wong, an LA resident and avid Dodger fan, voiced concerns with the approach that the gondola project was taking to reduce congestion.
“I would love wider sidewalks, increased pedestrian infrastructure,” Wong said. “I don’t think the gondola is a solution. Many people, through a lot of dedication, made L.A. Historic Park what it is today. Residents of the local communities would be negatively impacted.”
However, not all speakers were opposed. Manuel Luna, who has lived in the William Mead public housing development in Chinatown for more than two decades, said he didn’t understand why there was opposition to the project.
“I know the gondola will be passing through [my home], and I support it,” Luna said.
While the environmental approval was considered a big win for the project, it still needs a final sign-off from the Metro LA board, and further approval from the Los Angeles City Council, the California Department of Transportation and the California State Parks Department before work can begin.