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As Season Nears, Chances of Dodger Trolley Service Slim

By Eric Richardson
Published: Thursday, March 12, 2009, at 05:56PM
Dodger Trolley Los Angeles Dodgers

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — When fans fill Dodger Stadium for the team's home opener on April 13, chances are minimal that they will be doing so via the Dodger Trolley. The city's efforts to find a sponsor for the shuttle service to Union Station have come up empty, and the team has offered little help in that effort.

LADOT's Jim Lefton appeared before the Council's Transportation Committee today to offer an update on the service, which the city sponsored for the last part of the 2008 season.

Service for the 2009 season is estimated to cost approximately $400,000. The Dodgers have been emphatic that the cost for any public transportation option should be borne by the city.

Earlier promises that the team would help the city find sponsors for a 2009 service seem to have fallen by the wayside this offseason. "In June, when the council approved the two month demo, the Dodgers had committed that ... they would go out and the end of the season and talk to their sponsors," Lefton told the committee. "When we met with them in December, they indicated that they did not want to talk to the existing sponsors and that they did not want to mess with their existing sponsorship arrangements."

The city has attempted to find its own sponsorship deal for the service, but has been unsuccessful in doing so.

Were the service to be run, it would operate differently than last year's demo did. LADOT has put together a new route that would avoid Sunset, bringing the bus in the east entrance to the stadium.

After discussion, Transportation committee held the item, with Councilman Tom LaBonge particularly expressing his hope that some solution could be found.

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Jana Sosnowski on March 12, 2009, at 06:47PM – #1

This is pretty disappointing! As someone who invests what little expendable income I have in Dodger tickets, it's so disappointing that the Dodgers insist upon making a fortune on their parking lot.


User_32

Aaron on March 12, 2009, at 08:56PM – #2

Extremely disappointing - given that they create the traffic problems throughout their region, they ought to be paying for the service themselves, let alone simply asking for sponsors. This is a fairly easily understood example about how often City government really doesn't have any power, despite common paranoia.


Robert Banuelos on March 12, 2009, at 10:08PM – #3

its a real shame the trolley saves so much time and money. they can pay 45 million to manny but no trolley for their fans.


Tanaya Burnham-Delorey on March 13, 2009, at 10:07AM – #4

It was so easy last year to take a bus from work strait to the trolley stop and then up to the stadium. With a partial season ticket plan this year, it is going to be so expensive just for parking! I guess we're just going to have to forgo the Dodger Dogs. So very disappointing.


Guest 1

Brian on March 13, 2009, at 02:09PM – #5

As much as the trolley idea is a good one, believing the Dodgers should fork over the money for the entire thing is not believable.

The Dodgers are never struggling to fill the seats so there is little incentive to reach out and make it easier to get to the stadium. Of course because of the location of Dodger Stadium they have a strangle hold on parking and that is cash in their pocket.

I'm all about being green and reducing the commute but flipping the $400k bill for the service is probably not in the best interest of the Dodgers.


Guest 2

DJB on March 13, 2009, at 03:44PM – #6

Maybe if there were something around that stadium besides a giant parking lot, it would make sense to have regular bus service between downtown and the stadium.

Imagine what it would be like if they built some parking structures and used the saved land to build a mixed-use project. LA needs housing (badly), it needs jobs, and there's a bunch of prime land around that stadium we're wasting for cars. Let's put it all together.

As things stand now, I don't think a Dodger shuttle is a good use of public resources.


Guest 3

nomad on March 15, 2009, at 03:03PM – #7

They should maybe do something such as run a shuttle from Sunset to the stadium, and people could take the existing bus lines on sunset. It would only take a few shuttles, maybe have a dedicated lane. Saves money and leaves people with the public transit option without having to walk from Sunset


Guest 4

Erik on March 16, 2009, at 09:49AM – #8

Time for an aerial tram from Chinatown to Chavez Ravine? It would open up access to the rest of Elysian Park in the off-season too!


Guest 5

David Kennedy on March 16, 2009, at 12:22PM – #9

Why doesn't the city come up with a congestion tax? The congestion caused by Dodger games has an economic impact positive and negative. If there's a negative impact, send 'em the bill. That should get the Dodger management thinking in a helpful fashion. Right now, it looks like they don't give a damn. $400,000 is a pittance to these guys. If you run an event which causes major traffic impact, you should be looking to responsibly mitigate it. If not, the city should fine tune the rules to get their attention.


Eric Richardson () on March 16, 2009, at 12:30PM – #10

David: It's hard to put a tax on conditions that have been in existence for nearly fifty years. I have a feeling someone's going to need to come up with a carrot on this one, not a stick.


Guest 6

David Kennedy on March 16, 2009, at 11:36PM – #11

Eric, think of the AQMD as a model. Smog was real problem for decades before government acted. I'm not familiar with the details and history. But, smog is a pretty intermittent problem now. Heck, your comment would have prevented the environmental movement from becoming a regulatory force from the get-go.

Quantifying the economic impact of traffic congestion is just a bunch of algorithms. If it can be quantified, it changes the way the problem is conceived. This should lead to some creative thinking to resolve it. I'm not a fan in this instance of shrugging our collective shoulders and saying nothing can be done.

Consider the Air Canada Center in downtown Toronto. The arena was built without ANY parking. The place is packed night after night. Obviously, that's not the solution here. But, thinking 'outside the box' ought to be encouraged. Anyways, it is just a suggestion.


Jana Sosnowski on March 17, 2009, at 07:32AM – #12

Is this the final decision or are there more hearings? Are they open up to the public?


Eric Richardson () on March 17, 2009, at 07:58AM – #13

Jana: The transportation committee continued the item, which means that they held onto it to bring it up again. That said, I don't know if it will get back on an agenda unless there's some new development.

All Council committee meetings (and regular council meetings) are open to the public. You can or check out our Around the Halls series for meetings with Downtown items on the agenda.


Alex Brideau III on March 17, 2009, at 09:53AM – #14

Times are tight, but I'd be willing to contribute a couple bucks toward the trolley. Anyone got change for a $20?

Seriously, though, since the Dodgers are trying to embark upon a greening project for the stadium, they should foot at least some of the bill. After all, they get free advertising as the shuttles traverse city streets. The balance of the funding could come from advertisers and possibly through the acceptance of donations onboard. (I would gladly donate a couple bucks. Better that than $15 for parking! Egad.)


Rachel Shaffer Banks on March 17, 2009, at 10:16AM – #15

What do you expect from the Parking Lot Attendant? Of course he'd rather have everyone cough up $15 per car for the privilege of parking in his, now totally screwed up, parking lot? I have to say parking at the stadium was much easier before his latest brilliant plan for how everyone should have access to parking. I really miss the O'Malleys....


Guest 7

Greg on March 17, 2009, at 11:24PM – #16

penny-wise and pound-foolish for the McCourts and the city not to tag-team on this


Guest 1

Brian on March 18, 2009, at 11:20AM – #17

David: There is however a ton of surface parking in the area surrounding the ACC. Of course they are operated by private companies but parking is available. At the same time, the TTC has always been well laid out and accessible to all areas of the city.

Devil's advocate here - why the uproar about the Dodgers not forking out 400k of their own money to make it easier for fans to go to the game? The Lakers don't operate a shuttle to my knowledge, nor do any of the museums, or any other attraction in the area. If it were anyone but the Dodgers would there be an emphasis for the business to foot the whole bill for this?


Guest 8

jc on March 19, 2009, at 01:59PM – #18

@ Brian: Staples Center and all the museums downtown and in the area are already accessible by public transportation. There is no public transportation that takes you past the bottom of the hill at Chavez Ravine.


Guest 1

Brian on March 19, 2009, at 04:01PM – #19

JC: Great point, and as a "newer" resident to LA I did not know that. So I'll play devils advocate one step further - why should the Dodgers pay for transportation or public transportation to their place - aside from PR?


Alex Brideau III on March 20, 2009, at 12:31AM – #20

@ Brian: The Dodgers should contribute at least something to the cost of the trolley because their presence is the main contributor to traffic congestion on game days. At the least, it would indicate they are to be a good neighbor to area residents. More trolley/transit service = less car traffic.

Also, getting more people to games via transit lowers the Dodgers carbon footprint which gives them more bragging rights on the green front.


Guest 1

Brian on March 20, 2009, at 02:50PM – #21

I believe the Dodgers spoke today about the trolley and said it's a dead issue on their end. They believe better public permanent transportation service is required not only at Dodgers Stadium but throughout the city.

Alex: Traffic is bad near every stadium in the country. You think it's bad here, try Wrigleyville in Chicago where the stadium is literally a few feet from people's homes. As for the carbon footprint - I think everyone should do their part however all but a few fans are worried about how green the Dodgers are or their footprint. That's just the nature of sports. It's like the cost of a ticket: economic times can be bad, people will complain about the financial system but sports fans will still buy tickets and don't care how much Manny or Kobe make.


Alex Brideau III on May 12, 2009, at 12:17PM – #22

Well, now we know the Dodgers have the extra money to pay for the Trolley, what with the millions saved due to Manny's suspension.

So, how goes it, McCourts? Can you pony up a couple bucks now? (Would go a long way to greening the Dodgers image in my eyes!)



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