| Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| LA ART | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character | Urban | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | Los Angeles Union Station Dodger Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. of stations | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Open | 2028 (proposed) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trip duration | 7 minutes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheLos Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Project is a proposedaerial gondola inLos Angeles, California, United States, connectingUnion Station to theDodger Stadium property with an intermediate station atLos Angeles State Historic Park. The aerial gondolas will also serveElysian Park adjacent to the stadium.
Dodger Stadium was built where theformer neighborhoods ofChavez Ravine once stood.Earthmovers reshaped the hills beginning in 1959 and the stadium overlookingdowntown Los Angeles opened April 10, 1962 in theElysian Park neighborhood ofLos Angeles.[1] The conditional use permit included a requirement that permanent transit to the stadium would be pursued.[2]
The stadium is surrounded by 130 acres (53 ha) of parking lots. In 2008,Dodgers ownerFrank McCourt wanted to transform the ballpark into a year-round destination for dining, shopping and recreation. The project description included a Dodger museum, shops, and restaurants.[3] The project was not initiated but McCourtretained partial ownership in the sprawling surface parking lots that wrap the stadium when he sold the team and stadium.[4]
Fans create parking headaches forEcho Park residents.[5] Before a game, bumper to bumper traffic winds through the hilly streets to reach the stadium from several directions. On week days,rush hour increases the traffic crunch. TheLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has two Dodger Stadium Express bus routes that transport fans to and from the stadium for games.[6] TheChinatown station is the nearest station of theLos Angeles Metro Rail system. From there, it is a little over a mile walk through theChinatown neighborhood with a pedestrian bridge available at the north end of Yale Street over the110 Freeway.[7]
Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, LLC announced in 2018 a plan to construct a gondola system betweenUnion Station and Dodger Stadium.[8] With a seven-minute end-to-end ride, each cabin would hold 30 to 40 passengers. Proposed construction funding in part would be by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and other private sources.[4] Operations would likely be largely funded by corporate sponsorships and tourist fares.[9] Metro accepted the unsolicited proposal and became the lead agency for theEnvironmental Impact Report in October 2020.[10][11] The company transferred the project to the nonprofit Zero Emissions Transit in August 2022.[12] The nonprofit is run by a group called Climate Resolve that aims to reduce pollution related toclimate change.[9] Los Angeles mayorEric Garcetti supported the project butKaren Bass took over that seat on the Metro board when she assumed theoffice of mayor on December 12, 2022.[9]
The project has renewed fears ofgentrification in the Chinatown community especially among the many elderly residents.[13] An organization that would have a 195-foot tall tower (59 m) next to their headquarters claimed the proposal was a private tourist attraction and not a public transportation link. They lost their challenge in court in January 2023 when the judge cited evidence that there would be drop in private automobile trips to and from the stadium on an average game day.[14] Researchers at theUCLA Mobility Lab found that the gondola would likely take roughly 608 cars off the road. They found that the gondola could reduce traffic on major roads around stadium on the night of a sold-out game.[6]
Approval of theenvironmental impact report was delayed in January 2024 by Metro Board of Directors after City CouncilmemberEunisses Hernandez introduced a motion for the council to suspend any actions. Besides the lack of a recenttraffic study, she had concerns about the impacts onnative wildlife,noise andlight pollution, privacy of residents along the route, and accelerating gentrification.[15] The Metro board support approval was subject to the several conditions.[16]
A spokesperson from LA ART claimed the route runs mostly along public property and city streets and would not displace residents.[17] The route connects to Union Station atAlameda Street which it follows before it runs along the perimeter ofLos Angeles State Historic Park where a station will be built close to the Chinatown station on theA line. It continues along the Metro rail line alignment to an angle point where it heads up Bishops Road to the stadium, crossing the freeway near the Stadium Way crossing.[18]
