Los Angeles officials seek to halt proposed Dodger Stadium gondola
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A proposal to build a gondola from downtown Los Angeles to Dodger Stadium hit some turbulence this week when the City Council voted overwhelmingly to urge transportation officials to ground the project.
The estimated $500 million aerial tramway would connect fans between the stadium about a mile (1.6 km) away to Union Station, the heart of Los Angeles’ rail system.
Supporters say the gondola would help fans of the World Series champions avoid nightmarish traffic. But critics point to a study that found it would do little to keep cars off the roads.
In a 12-1 vote, council members on Wednesday approved a resolution to advise the LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to kill the project.
Mayor Karen Bass must sign off for it to take effect, and the mayor has previously voted in favor of the project as a Metro board member. Her office didn't immediately reply to an email Thursday asking if she will OK the council's resolution.
A full council vote to approve the project is expected next year. But this week's action is a sign that developers could face an uphill battle getting it built.
The ultimate goal is to get people to take Metro buses and trains to Union Station, and from there glide through the sky to the ballpark. But that is a tough proposition in sprawling, car-centric Los Angeles, where many people live in areas far beyond the bus and rail networks.
Backers say the gondola would be relatively inexpensive, it won’t cost taxpayers any money, it’s better for the environment than cars, and aerial tramways are safe and quiet. They estimate that each ride would take about five minutes and that the system could move at least 5,000 people an hour in each direction.
When the gondola was first proposed in 2018, Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, a company founded by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, said it would pay for a portion of the project. The firm said it would seek private financing for the remainder.
But the nonprofit group Stop The Gondola says McCourt hasn't released a full financial plan so it is still unclear whether taxpayers could ultimately get hit with bills for building it or ongoing maintenance and operations.
The group says neighborhoods, many of them lower-income, between the train station and the stadium will be stuck with the “eyesores” of huge towers that support the cables that run the large gondola cabins. More than 150 trees could be cut down, the group says, and there are concerns that construction could clog up traffic along the route for years.
Research from the UCLA Mobility Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that the gondola could end up carrying fewer passengers than supporters claim and have little or no impact on reducing auto traffic. In fact, researchers said, many fans could simply drive downtown to get on the gondola, rather than taking public transportation.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who introduced the resolution, said the city needs meaningful public transit solutions, and a gondola doesn't qualify.
“It is a private development scheme disguised as transportation, designed to raise the value of a billionaire’s parking lots, not to serve working Angelenos," Hernandez said in a statement last month. "Our communities have said loudly and clearly that they do not want a project that threatens their homes, their park, their green space, and their quality of life."
But some of Hernandez's constituents in LA's Chinatown said that is not their position at all. A group of six families who have lived in the historic neighborhood for decades released a statement Thursday saying the gondola project could enrich their community, which has suffered economically in recent years.
“The gondola could mean commitments to local hiring and apprenticeship programs for our neighbors, incubators for small immigrant-owned businesses, and cultural preservation funds, including marketing opportunities,” the statement said.
The Dodgers have called the gondola an "innovative project” that would improve the fan experience.
