LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles baseball fans who want to avoid nightmarish traffic to and from Dodger Stadium could be able to take a gondola to games as soon as 2022 in a plan enthusiastically endorsed by the mayor on Thursday.
The estimated $125 million aerial tramway would connect fans between the stadium about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away to Union Station, the heart of Los Angeles’ rail system.
Backers of the privately funded project 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.
“We’re off to the races,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said shortly after announcing the proposal at a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which will have to sign off on the project.
He said he lived within walking distance of Dodgers Stadium for years and frequently saw firsthand what game days are like.
“It’s a lot of cars, it’s a lot of pollution, it’s a lot of traffic,” he said. “We have for so long wanted to get people using public transportation up to Dodger Stadium. We finally have a way to do it.”
He said the project doesn’t have a lot of hurdles to clear, saying it’s relatively inexpensive, it won’t cost taxpayers any money, it’s better for the environment and gondolas are safe and quiet.
Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, a company founded by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s son, would pay a portion of the project. The firm would seek private financing for the remainder.
In a statement, the Dodgers called the gondola “an important and innovative project” that would improve the fan experience.
Garcetti said the system could be running by opening day in 2022. City leaders also are looking at the feasibility of a gondola to the famed Hollywood sign.
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