The Dodgers are in the playoffs and there's a friggin' frenzy over the games. The team sold standing-room-only tickets to the sold-out Friday and Saturday events for $41. Standing room only! But every ticket represents a person who has to get to the stadium, and congestion and parking are expected to be extra terrible for both games, notes The Source. (There's a soccer game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday too, so even getting to the area is probably going to be rough). The Dodgers are advising everyone to show up as early as they can and to "embrace carpooling and alternate transportation." For those lucky folks who have tickets to see the Dodgers, here are some of the ways to actually find your way to the stadium:
Take the Dodgers Express: These may look like ordinary Metro buses, but the head signs say otherwise. Located at Union Station, they're free to ride with a game ticket, and ferry riders to two stops at the stadium: behind center field and at the Top Deck. The buses pick up at those spots at the end of the game too. There's also a South Bay Express, which starts at Artesia's Harbor Gateway Transit Center. Information on both options can be found at The Source.
Walk from Chinatown: Will the 20-minute-ish walk from Chinatown negate the calories from a frozen chocolate malt, a bag of salty peanuts, a Dodger dog, and a couple stadium-priced beers? No, but it's a start! (A little one.) Some walkers prefer to enter through the stadium's Sunset Gate, but the Downtown Gate also has its fans. Both routes usually start from the Chinatown Gold Line station or thereabouts and head toward the stadium on College Avenue. Turn north on Yale to take the cool pedestrian bridge that goes over the 110 Freeway and drops walkers directly onto Stadium Way. From there, go right to the Downtown Gate or left up Stadium Way to the Sunset Gate. A kind soul made a map of the Downtown Gate path here.
Bike it: It's supposed to be ridiculously hot this weekend, but by the early evening it should have cooled down a bit, right? Let's say it will. The stadium has added several bike racks in multiple locations around the grounds, as this official map of locations shows. The map also shows plenty of bike access points, but local bike nonprofit CICLE has a 2013 map of a solid route to the stadium here that takes the guesswork out of figuring out the best path.
Drive: Sometimes, driving is your only option. For those folks, there are a couple things to do that might cut down on some of the wait time at the stadium. Advance-purchase parking is available for the games through the Dodgers website; general parking is $10 cheaper when bought ahead of time too. Fun fact: the car gates at Dodger Stadium open up three hours before the game starts—3:45 pm on Friday and 3:07 pm on Saturday, according to the team's blog. The stadium gates won't open until an hour and a half before the first pitch, but maybe use that time to snap some selfies with the stadium in the background or really carefully apply Dodger-related good luck charms and blue face paint to your person.
· Go Metro's Dodger Stadium Express to Dodgers-Metropolitans playoff series! [The Source]