Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and four members of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board provided a list of 31 conditions they want to impose to proceed with the Dodger Stadium gondola project.
Among them is a plan for a regional bus program that would take riders directly to Dodger Stadium without a stop at Union Station to catch the gondola, which could possibly take away riders from the project being overseen by nonprofit Zero Emissions Transit (ZET).
Bass also wants ZET to commit to paying for potential buses that Metro might need to run to Dodger Stadium if the gondola project isn’t completed by the start of the 2028 Olympic Games.
Another condition would restrict future development of the Dodger Stadium parking lots, which are co-owned by former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Any future development of the Dodger Stadium parking lots would require city approval, but Bass and her allies want the Dodgers to commit that at least 25% of expansion be dedicated to affordable housing.
The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants are among California’s other MLB teams that have built homes in the area of their respective ballparks.
The L.A. Metro board already has five of the required seven votes to impose the conditions and will continue discussions during a meeting on Thursday.
The gondola project, which was unveiled in April 2018, has faced mounting opposition due to privacy concerns.
Last month, Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez introduced a motion to suspend any actions related to advancing the Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (LA ART) until the Department of Transportation completes a thorough assessment of Dodger Stadium traffic and accessibility.
Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies LLC (ARTT) wants the gondola built in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics, which have also been the center of community pushback. While there are no Olympic events yet planned at Dodger Stadium, the gondola would provide sweeping views of downtown L.A. and the San Gabriel Mountains
The process is currently undergoing Final environmental impact report certification and approval before heading to the Metro Board of Directors. If approved, the final step would be to file a Notice of Determination (NOD), which would start a 30-day period for legal challenge.
How would the Dodger Stadium gondola system work?
The system, which would take an estimated five minutes of travel, was designed to provide the first permanent public transit link to Dodger Stadium.
As proposed, the gondola lift would be able to move more than 5,000 passengers per hour, per direction and could help with the traffic both around Dodger Stadium and downtown Los Angeles.
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