Dodger Stadium gondola opponents call for alternative solutions to transit project

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Metro Board in February approved a $550 million project connecting Union Station to Dodger Stadium via gondola.

But local residents continue efforts to try to stop the project.

The Stop the Gondola Coalition held a town hall meeting recently in Chinatown for people to express concerns and opposition. The coalition is comprised of some 30 organizations, many of them representing residents of Chinatown, Elysian park and surrounding neighborhoods.

The Metro Board says the project will help ease traffic congestion in the area during Dodger games, and help the city establish a car-free Olympics in 2028.

The Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Project, known as the gondola project -- would hover above a 1.2 mile stretch of homes and businesses.

The organization Zero Emission Transit says it would be the first aerial gondola transit system to include a battery-electric backup system and could reduce emissions by over 150,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases over its lifetime.

The coalition claims the proposed gondola is a vanity project for former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who still owns a portion of the stadium's parking lots.

"It doesn't make sense for the city to spend this much money on this kind of project," said Lorna Xu, an opponents of the project. "If they want to invest in a better public transit system, there are so many other options that will be safer, make more sense, more accessible for everyone to take."

The group plans to deliver a list of other solutions to City Hall in the near future.

Opponents have already filed a lawsuit challenging the gondola project's adequacy, but a judge rejected the effort in August.

The project would provide spectators a free gondola ride with a valid ticket to a Dodgers game and would provide residents and business employees no additional costs to ride it through the Community Access Program.

The coalition group suggests investing in better transportation alternatives, such as improving the existing Dodger Stadium Express with a more robust zero-emission shuttle bus system.