Gondolas could become a transportation option for fans heading to Dodger Stadium, as a new proposal appears to be gathering some momentum.
The gondolas, which are being pitched by Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies LLC, could become a solution in easing access issues surrounding the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A lift would run from Union Station in Los Angeles to Dodger Stadium, where a terminus would be located in the parking lot.
Nothing has been finalized to this point, and it might not be until Opening Day 2022 that the gondola line to Dodger Stadium will operate. That said, with other large cities around the globe turning to gondolas as a new transportation option, the idea of a gondola line bringing fans to Dodger Stadium does not sound too far fetched to local officials. More from The Los Angeles Times:
“I am absolutely confident that this will happen,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters Thursday. “It’s not actually crazy. It may seem like that because in Los Angeles, we don’t have this. But this exists in over a dozen cities around the world.”
Once relegated to ski resorts, gondolas are having something of a transportation moment. They have become a tourist attraction in Taipei and London. And in more than a dozen South American cities, such systems have become a critical transit link between commercial centers and mountainous regions once connected only by congested, winding roads.
In the United States, the systems are in use on New York’s Roosevelt Island and in Portland, Ore., where a cable car carries commuters between a waterfront neighborhood and a university.
The craggy topography of Elysian Park has long presented a challenge to transportation planners and Dodgers fans alike. But those hills are perfect for a gondola line, which could easily scale inclines that defeat buses and light-rail lines, supporters say.
It is expected that existing express bus service to Dodger Stadium will continue to operate if the gondolas become a reality, so the transportation options would supplement one another. Interestingly enough, this is not the only gondola-related idea to hit Major League Baseball of late. Gondolas have also been discussed as a potential option for the Oakland A’s if they build a new ballpark at Howard Terminal, which is one of the sites that the team is considering in its ongoing search for a new facility.
Rendering courtesy Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies LLC.