Dodger Stadium Express Begins April 1
LA Dodgers/Juan Ocampo
Councilman Eric Garcetti, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, Metro Board Chairman Ara Najarian and Councilman Ed Reyes pose with a check to cover Dodger Stadium transit service.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — True Blue fans will ride again, thanks to some extra green.
County clean air funds will pay for a Dodger Stadium Express bus shuttle service that will start carrying baseball fans to the stadium from Union Station as of April 1, when the team plays a preseason game against the Cleveland Indians.
While the team touts the service as a first step toward consistent public transit into Dodger Stadium, it remains to be seen whether funding issues will again make the line a one-time try.
The $300,000 grant is funded by a portion of vehicle registration fees set aside for projects that promote emission reductions.
Fans carrying a game ticket will be able to ride for free, with buses leaving Union Station's Patsaouras Bus Plaza every ten minutes before and after the game and every 30 minutes throughout. Service starts 90 minutes before the first pitch and will run 45 minutes after the game ends.
Passengers will be dropped off and picked up in the parking lot behind left/center field. Those without a ticket can pay Metro's standard $1.25 fare to ride.
A press conference and check presentation on Monday provided an opportunity for green-talk from elected officials. "Dodger fans across the county can now avoid the traffic, save gas and help improve air quality by using public transit and our new Dodger Stadium Express bus to get to the game," said County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, South Coast Air Quality Management District representative on the committee that issued the grant.
"With the vast network of rail and buses serving Union Station, this just makes perfect sense to provide this link to encourage the use of public transit as an alternative to driving,” said Ara Najarian, Chair of the Metro Board of Directors in a statement.
Dodger owner Frank McCourt said that he hopes the service is a sign of things to come. "This new program is a tremendous first step in creating meaningful public transit between Dodger Stadium and the surrounding communities," he said.
A similar first step was taken in 2008 when the City of Los Angeles funded a shuttle over the last two months of the season. That service failed to return in 2009 when the city declined to continue to foot the bill and the team refused to pay into transit service.
The 2010 service is also a one-year demonstration project budgeted to pay for preseason and regular-season games, and new funding would need to be secured for additional years. While the team and Metro promise to explore future funding, that's a story that fans have heard before.
Guest on March 23, 2010, at 12:20PM – #1
Why is the public paying for a service to Dodger Stadium? Maybe it would be ok if the McCourts paid taxes or paid for half of the shuttle. I'm a huge supporter of taking transit but why do the taxpayers get to fund the McCourt Express.
Ken Hall on March 23, 2010, at 12:45PM – #2
I agree, the shuttle directly benefits only the Dodgers. Since funds so scarce, NO public money should be used for things like this.
Robert Banuelos on March 23, 2010, at 01:09PM – #3
Its a shame public money has to be used to fund the dodger express. But parking inside dodger stadium means money for the McCourts, so they wont spend money on anything the reduces their revenue. As a fan i look forward to attending games and using the bus, but the fact that taxpayers have to fund a bus services that brings attends to dodger stadium leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Guest on March 23, 2010, at 03:02PM – #4
is it really just benefiting the Dodgers though? This reduces emissions, traffic and cars on the road. i think its a win win. Would you rather have the 3000 - 5000 or however many fans use this per game drive to Dodger Stadium?
D
Guest on March 24, 2010, at 09:02AM – #5
Thought the Dodgers were kicking in some money to fund the bus. Nothing against baseball, but does seem like an odd way to spend public funds. The bus was talked about yesterday on the radio & the host said using the bus once was enough as it can end up taking hours to get back to union station. One listener mentioned how it took them hours to make the commute to union station from the westside. Suppose if you're near the red/blue/gold/purple lines it would be an easy commute to the station
Nancy Richardson (@nanorich) on March 25, 2010, at 05:50AM – #6
Well, as Union Station venue was made in order to ferry people from the Metro to Dodger Stadium....and there is really limited parking Union Station, one would have to question why people would not bother to drive from the westside up the hill to Dodger stadium.
Doesn't the city subsidize the Hollywood Bowl Shuttle lots?
Jacob Holloway on March 25, 2010, at 09:02AM – #7
Furthermore, can anyone find any announcement on the Dodgers' site? I've been looking, and I'm wondering what promotional support the county received in return... How will Dodgers fans hear about this?
Guest on March 25, 2010, at 09:17AM – #8
It is my understanding that The Hollywood Bowl is owned by the County so any bus subsidy also helps the bottom line of the Hollywood Bowl. Getting people to the Bowl efficiently!
David Yoon on March 25, 2010, at 09:52AM – #9
This is always a toughie. We're stuck with a bad situation in which we have too many potential public transportation projects vying for too few dollars. Any single project will always be deemed "less deserving" by one group or another. The frustrating reality is that we have to start somewhere, start small, and keep building in increments.
Alex Brideau III on March 25, 2010, at 12:55PM – #10
I may be mistaken, but I believe this service is grant funded, and as such does not affect the county's general fund.
That said, the Dodgers should have at least kicked in some cash to fund the line, given that they saved over $7 million due to Manny's drug issues last year. I know they have little to gain financially, but this is part of being a good neighbor and helping to lessen traffic, pollution, etc.
Now all they need to do is designate bus-only lanes nearby the stadium so these shuttles as well as regular buses don't get jammed up with the rest of the fans come gameday.
@Jacob Holloway: The announcement is listed on the Dodgers website in the News section but, IMHO, should also be listed in their Dodger Stadium section.
Guest on March 29, 2010, at 12:44AM – #11
Please dont disrespect the DODGERS. They've been here in LA for a long time. I mean besides the LAKERS and KINGS thats all we have here. The DODGERS have been here longer than I have been alive and I respect that in this crazy environment. Its like complaining because now you have to help pay for your elderly mother's adult day care. Let's rally around this move. Thank You.---a downtown resident, 7th and Broadway.
Guest on April 07, 2010, at 07:43PM – #12
Is there a parking fee to park at Union Station?
Eric Levitt on April 12, 2010, at 02:24PM – #13
I think it is a great way to keep cars off the road the only real problem is that the Metrolink Trains from the burbs dont run past like 7pm so you could theoreticaly take a train in to a night game but not back. So although if you live on any of the colored Metro lines (gold, red, purple, blue, orange) you can take it home the people that we can really get off the road and get into the city for a night of it (suburbians) cannot. Gotta get metrolink to run one train on each line after the game.
Guest on April 15, 2010, at 05:37PM – #14
Think about it. The Dodgers have ZERO to gain from this. They are already practically sold out so all that is happening is that they are losing parking fees; maybe 500k per year. The MTA on the other hand, gets new riders to Union Station. If they get about 1200 additional fares per game, they MAKE MONEY on this.
Guest on May 02, 2010, at 10:19AM – #15
My god, talk about a city with no pride. You should all be excited that you can hop a bus to YOUR Los Angeles Dodgers. This is why sports teams here suffer during the regular season because it's all just a bunch of front runners. Sure when the Lakers make the playoffs you're there but where are you throughout the season to support them? Same with the dodgers, they have been suffering with their salary limitations for years and you all complain about players leaving and complain about oh no I could be able to go to a game without paying the $10 parking or whatever it is...Los Angeles fans you really need to get your act together!
Dennis Smith on May 02, 2010, at 11:16AM – #16
Guest #15,
Dodger fans have earned the right to complain as they are among the best fans in Major League Baseball. This is borne out by a quick review of the actual numbers that show the Dodgers being in the top three teams in average daily attendance for the last five years. This year, despite a mediocre start and a roster bereft of big name ticket selling players, the Dodgers right now lead the majors in average daily attendance.
This discussion pertains to the fact that Dodger ownership in Los Angeles, be it the O'Malleys, Rupert Murdoch, or the McCourts have had a historic antagonism towards allowing the stadium in Chavez Ravine to be served by mass transit. The Dodgers have accrued huge amounts of revenue through collecting the toll on parking, little of which has ever been shared with the city due to the original deal in which the city awarded the land to the Dodgers. When the Gold Line route was first being discussed years ago, Dodger management actively lobbied against having a station built that would have served Dodger Stadium. No one understands the value of this virtual parking monopoly more than Frank McCourt who made his fortune on parking lots and real estate deals in metropolitan Boston.
For now, all we have is the half assed Dodger Shuttle, which is funded by the county with taxpayer funds but which the Dodgers have no qualms trumpeting (and taking the credit for) by putting their name on it.