Transit project hits opposition

LOS ANGELES — Anybody who’s sat in the interminable traffic out of Dodger Stadium after a night game has had the same thought: “There has got to be a better way to get in and out of this freakin’ place!” I know I have. The line to exit the parking lots at Chavez Ravine is without doubt the absolute worst part of the Dodger Stadium experience. So, when talk of a futuristic gondola from Union Station to the stadium first hit the press a few years ago, I was intrigued. The thought of floating high above the city while the suckers in their gas-guzzlers dutifully line up to park was appealing. However, now that the plan is inching closer to the reality, the Angelenos most impacted by the project are saying, “Not so fast, buster.”

Chinatown residents not happy

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, folks in the flyover country of the proposed gondola have grave concerns about the project. Chinatown residents are worried about the impact to their small community, not to mention the specter of essentially large public buses whizzing by overhead like a scene out of Blade Runner or something. And to bring public awareness to the project, they have started their own website (hasn’t everybody?) called StoptheGondola.org where they plead their case.

A quick perusal of the website lists the reasons for opposition:

• It is opposed by a majority of Angelenos (76% according to their website)
• There is a lack of public oversight to this private project
• The developers have not been transparent about the project’s costs
• It really isn’t needed when more shuttle buses could accomplish the same goal
• It is part of a broader strategy to gentrify the historic Chinatown neighborhood

“It’s just another way that we can’t own our neighborhood and feel safe and quiet here because literally you have something flying over your house all day long, forever, I guess,” said Chinatown resident Tany Ling, a singer who offers private lessons at the home she and her sister bought in 2012. She is one of the voices behind the anti-gondola campaign.

This week, the protesters got some serious support. The California Endowment, a charitable foundation, filed a writ of mandate in Los Angeles County Superior Court contending the county’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority fast-tracked the project without public vetting. The nonprofit is asking a judge to stop Metro’s attempt to guide the project through the planning process.

Guess who is spearheading this project?

This project is the brainchild of Him who shall not be named (aka Frank McCourt). His company, Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies has proposed building a 1.4-mile elevated gondola tramway from Union Station, gliding over Chinatown and up to the Dodger Stadium parking lots in Elysian Park.

When McCourt sold the Dodgers to Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012 for $2.3 billion, he retained ownership of the parking lots, something I did not remember about that deal. So, that $25 bucks which you will need to shell out to park this season goes to McCourt and his crowd, not to fund anything else in the Dodger organization. And this tram is a private project, so presumably it will not be free ride, unlike the Metro shuttle, which takes fans right up to the stadium before home games.

Obviously, this is going to be an ongoing controversy for the next few years. We’ll see just how much steam the anti-gondola campaign can muster.