It’s not easy to get to Dodger Stadium. Perched on a hill and isolated by freeways, the ballpark is designed for and dominated by cars.
Metro offers one good game-day option: The Dodger Express runs buses on dedicated lanes on Sunset from Union Station to the stadium, and a trip takes about 25 minutes.
Another game-day option was revealed yesterday by Hawthorne-based tunneling startup The Boring Company—the Dugout Loop, a three-mile, high-speed underground track that would transport Dodger fans from one of three nearby Red Line stations to the ballpark.
The Dugout Loop would travel much faster than a bus, making the trip in about 4 minutes. But the loop would only serve 1,400 passengers per game. That’s far less efficient than dedicated bus lanes, which can move 4,000 to 8,000 people per hour.
More importantly, the Boring Company’s plan ignores larger problems around getting to Chavez Ravine that could be very easily addressed—if prioritized by local leaders.
There are simpler solutions that would help a lot more people get to the stadium without using their private cars—and improve transportation access in and around Elysian Park all the time.
No one solution would totally eliminate traffic at the ballpark. But the Dodgers should provide more options to get to the stadium.
Here are five ways to get more people out of their cars when they go to the game. After the transportation problem is solved, the Dodgers can work on converting all those acres of parking lots into housing.
1. Make the stadium more walkable
From the closest transit connections in Echo Park or Chinatown, the walk to Dodger Stadium is about one mile. The Dodgers have made several safety improvements to these routes over the last few years, but the paths still aren’t very welcoming to walkers—and most people don’t know about them.
Turning Vin Scully Avenue into a pedestrian-focused street, with walkways branded in Dodger blue, would help keep walking top of mind for fans. On the other side of the stadium, there’s a pedestrian walkway along the 110 freeway (complete with a spiral staircase) that could be expanded to help people walk safely from the Eastside.
On some of the steeper hills, outdoor escalators, like the ones which are already found all around the stadium, could be employed to help give people a lift. Walking is the best way to work off your Dodger dogs, and after the game, it’s all downhill.
2. Build better bike paths
Despite the less-than-ideal cycling conditions, Dodger Stadium is fairly bikeable—if you’re coming from the west or south. The adjacent neighborhoods and even the public space around the stadium lack dedicated infrastructure that help riders safely access and cross Elysian Park all the time.
One critical connection that could help a lot on game day would be creating a spur off the LA River path which could make a gradual incline up to the stadium. Since hills can be challenging, especially on a hot day, the city could add an electric-assist bike-share hub at the stadium with bikes at several other locations nearby.
3. Add more regional shuttles
In addition to the Dodger Express that runs from Union Station, Metro also runs a South Bay service that makes several stops along the Silver Line busway. Metro could easily expand this program by running separate Dodger Express service from any Hollywood area Red Line station or borrow the Hollywood Bowl’s model, which operates park-and-ride shuttles all over the LA region.
Making these buses efficient, especially near the stadium, would require adding more dedicated lanes to make sure the buses don’t get stuck in traffic. That’s something needed for more bus lines across Los Angeles in general.
4. Run the aerial tram to the other side of the LA River
The proposed aerial tram to the stadium is inspired, privately funded, and fun—but it also stops short. Without transit connections that take the Eastside into consideration, people who have no easy to way to get to the stadium will resort to driving.
The tram should travel in two directions, not just to and from Union Station, but also to another destination across the LA River not readily served by rail—maybe Rio de Los Angeles State Park. Instead of simply replicating the route of the Dodger Express, a tram would give Eastside residents access to Elysian Park, and a fast, scenic way to get to Union Station all the time.
5. Tunnel a subway—but extend it
Some of the most difficult trips to make on LA’s public transit systems are ones that require going around Elysian Park. In nearby neighborhoods that aren’t adjacent to rail, it can take over an hour to go a few miles, especially since buses can only cross the LA River in a handful of places.
This is where a tunnel could really help—provided that it made a connection to the Eastside. Instead of an underground transit system that terminates at Dodger Stadium only on game days, why not continue it to the Cypress Park Gold Line station—or beyond—and run it all the time?
If any tunnel is being built, publicly or privately funded, it should serve more than two communities. It’s time to provide better access to the stadium for Angelenos on the other side of the river who can see game-winning fireworks out their windows—but must cross multiple freeways to get to the game.
Comments
You forgot the most obvious solution. Build a new Dodger stadium downtown next to Staples Center where the proposed football stadium was to go.
By tornadoes28 on 08.16.18 3:12pm
Probably not going to happen. Would take a ton of land, which is super expensive and the Dodgers have poured a bunch of money into DS over the last few years. They aren’t going to walk away from that.
By LA Denizen on 08.16.18 3:15pm
I think tornadoes28 was being sarcastic.
By cerealbox760 on 08.16.18 4:14pm
By their very nature, BB stadiums require more lateral space than FB stadiums. There would not be sufficient space at the location you mention. As well, they require a specific orientation to midday sunlight and that only adds to, makes your proposition ridiculous.
By John Crandell on 08.22.18 11:34am
One route carries 1400-2800 people. Thats impressive for ONE route. If people got their act together, LA would’ve had an entire network all across the entire stadium and all of LA county. Instead we have to settle half-assed projects like the Red Line subway and band aid solutions like dedicated bus lanes. LA is just not serious about fixing traffic and pollution.
Elon Musk is NOT suggesting anything new. He is suggesting more subways. Subways are ancient technology he didnt invent. The difference here is that he managed to reduce the costs of digging holes, by a lot. Digging narrower tunnels and using autonomous telsa mini vans (instead of oversized trains that are vacant half the day), building underground subways become cheaper; also faster. And when they shrink the size of the boring machines they are easier and cheaper to transport and store away.
Its baffles me when people say its unrealistic to dig holes underground to carry vehicles smaller than trains. We can already do that and we need more.
By cerealbox760 on 08.16.18 3:57pm
1400 to 2800 is not impressive for one route. Even the lowest performing rail lines in LA carry 29,000 people.
The Red Line subway carries 135,985 riders per day in July 2018. You would need 49 of these Boring Company routes to match the "half-assed" Red Line.
Musk has not demonstrated that he can lower costs yet. He is using the same TBMs available to other contractors. The larger Metro tunnels don’t take very long to tunnel anyway:
For the Regional Connector, it took 4 months to tunnel 1.1 miles: https://thesource.metro.net/2018/01/19/tunnel-boring-machine-completes-its-job-on-regional-connector-project/
The second Crenshaw line tunnel also took 4-5 months to tunnel 1 mile: https://thesource.metro.net/2017/04/21/crenshawlax-lines-tunnel-boring-machine-officially-retired-at-media-event-and-other-pics-from-project/
The studies and EIR process (about 3-4 years), public bidding process (about 1 year), utility relocation (1-2 years) and station work (many years) take up most of a public transit projects time. "Faster tunneling" is low on the list of things needed to speed up transit projects.
By numble on 08.16.18 5:57pm
You cant compare to the redline because the red line stretches 16 miles and its open 20 hours per day. Musk’s tunnel is open per game (not per day) and only has one stop. So on a per mile/per hour basis , its impressive. You wouldnt need 49 routes. No where near that amount. Regardless, the tunnel loop compliments the redline and eases traffic to the stadium.
And by the looks of it, he is making his own boring machine not available to other private contractors. I would have a bigger problem with Elons unproven claims if he was asking for public funds. However, the money is coming out of his own pocket. And there is no other way to prove his ideas until he is given the chance.
https://www.teslarati.com/boring-company-cost-cutting-plan-boring-company-cheaper-faster-tunnel-digging/
First, the team is looking to cut the diameter of the tunnels they dig, moving from the traditional tunnel diameter for passenger vehicles of 26 to 28-feet to a 12-foot standard diameter which would be sufficient for the Tesla skate. On the surface, this might not seem like a lot, but cutting the diameter by 50% cuts the cross sectional area by a factor of four. This is significant as the speed and cost of tunneling is largely driven by the amount of cross sectional area to dig. Being able to cut out 75% of the time associated with digging comes with enormous cost savings.
Second, the team plans to attack head-on the way tunneling machines currently dig. Traditional machines dig, slowly and incrementally, then stop to install reinforcements to support the newly exposed earthen walls. Musk and team are working to install the reinforcements continuously thus eliminating the need to pause operations. This integration is expected to increase the speed of the overall process by as much as 50%.
By cerealbox760 on 08.16.18 8:41pm
It still isn’t impressive on a per hour or per mile basis. If you want to compare to a small subway segment, the first segment of the Purple Line extension has a similar length but is conservatively estimated to have 49,000 to 80,000 riders/day. And that is with limited headways.
As for improving tunneling, I don’t think we need to take them at their word for speeding up of tunneling. Tunneling speed is not actually a major problem, and a city like Beijing has built 250 miles of subway using the same standard German TBMs that Metro uses. Metro can tunnel 2 miles in 8 months in Los Angeles; the tunneling speed does not limit you as much as the Boring Company is suggesting, especially since they propose it taking over a year to do 3 miles.
By numble on 08.16.18 11:03pm
At peak times, the Red Line is moving 12,500 people per hour on a 16 mile line. TBC is proposing 1400 per event (what does that translate to per hour?), for a 3 and a half mile line. They think they can reach a max throughput of 2800 people (is that per hour or per event?). It does not compare favorably to a "half-assed" Red Line.
By numble on 08.16.18 11:21pm
And that 12,500 is just a fraction of what the red line is capable of for events.
At full capacity it can move 25,000 people. When the Division 20 upgrades are complete, it will be able to move 55,000 per hour.
By RXBXUXNX on 08.17.18 2:10pm
Alright Ill take back all the inflammatory things I said about the redline.
I still have my doubts about Elon’s plan, but he is using private money. And 1400 passengers is better than nothing. So good for him.
By cerealbox760 on 08.17.18 4:48pm
Given the reduced diameter of the tunnel, is there space for emergency escape? Won’t it be great to ride in a small, compact bus, being lowered into a shaft to a small, compact chamber and from there, accelerated forward thru a small, compact tunnel while one crosses their fingers in hope that nothing goes wrong with the technology in one of the mini buses ahead of you because if there is any sort of breakdown, everyone will be trapped in a small, compact bus inside of a cramped tube, or if a fire breaks out….. or if a fellow passenger has just come from an ‘In and Out’ and cuts a big smelly fart…. Right: you’ll never want to go to Dodger Stadium again in your life!
By John Crandell on 08.17.18 7:10am
yes, yes it will!
By YSRATCH on 08.17.18 11:02am
Imagine someone trying to get you on a horse. I suspect you might be able to concoct some horse-mounting scenario with a death toll upwards of half a dozen people.
By disqusted on 08.17.18 11:16am
that cracked me up
By YSRATCH on 08.17.18 11:20am
The essential issue IS NOT that of one or more new subways, rather the novel, untested, propeller-head technology he proposes – technology that is so unproven that any civic building and safety department would not give its approval. Lay off the Muskatel.
By John Crandell on 08.22.18 11:38am
Leave it to Alyssa Walker to completely miss the point – Elon Musk is proposing a free gift to the public that he would pay for if he ever actually got around to doing it. He wants to charge money for people to use his product. Unlike bike paths or blue paint on sidewalks that would make no revenue, that means he has thought about this and is expecting to get something in return, and not just be told by some broke, unemployed whiner that he should give away billions of dollars for some frivolous public benefit and never earn a return on his investment.
Everything Alyssa Walker wants would cost the public money to get done. Some of her ideas would cost billions of dollars of public funds, just to shuttle maybe a few thousand people maybe a few dozen times a year to a private entertainment facility so the owner of the facility could sell more tickets or raise prices. No one, upon thinking about the topic for more than a few seconds, would think her ideas are the best ideas to be "prioritized by local leaders" out of all the things the public could spend money on. If any of these ideas were remotely profitable to anyone, especially the Dodgers, someone would be trying to build them. They’re not, so the burden is on Alyssa Walker to explain why all these ideas "should" be "prioritized by local leaders" over everything else that could be done in Los Angeles.
If Alyssa Walker were like Elon Musk and offering to personally fund a subway tunnel, a bridge, an extended aerial tram, bike paths, shuttles from everywhere, and thousands of gallons of blue paint, we could all comment on her being mentally insane for offering to give away billions of dollars just to help the Dodgers raise prices, when she could fund some endowment or pay for a practical subway that lots of normal people would use every day. But, unlike Elon Musk, a successful businessman, she doesn’t have any money to donate to anything. We just have another episode of her blowing out whatever nonsense popped into her head as she was pounding on her keyboard, and telling other people how to run their lives.
By wuwowe on 08.16.18 5:57pm
Shut down Curbed, we have a winner!
By Balmung on 08.16.18 8:03pm
Calm down, Boris.
"Elon Musk is proposing a free gift to the public that he would pay for if he ever actually got around to doing it. " – NOTHING is free. Tesla’s Gigafactory site was chosen based on massive tax credits given BY TAXPAYERS to Musk. Just look at all the unforseen consequences of Tesla’s move to Reno:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/03/all-humanity-has-left-the-area-the-cities-paying-for-tesla-gigafactory
Alyssa’s providing ideas that are – I’m surprised to say this – reasonable and realistic by comparison. Have you noticed the surface disruption caused by underground tunneling on the red and purple lines? At a minimum it would be extremely disruptive and potentially financially ruinous to the hundreds of businesses who would suddenly find themselves in the way of Musk’s desires for a quicker way to get to the game.
By Cleavon Little on 08.17.18 10:56am
hahaha – I go to dodger games about 30-40 times a year. #1 and #2 are funny, the average dodger fan at games is overweight. severely overweight. and most leave with an alcohol flush.
By cicinla on 08.16.18 6:35pm
Musk’s mini buses will need heavy duty shock absorbers.
By John Crandell on 08.17.18 7:13am
The more I think about it, why doesn’t he consider converting several highway lanes into protected lanes for his autonomous skids? Seems like a cheaper alternative. Am I missing something here? Do his skids have to go underground?
Skids traveling 120mph would be great on the 405fwy carpool lanes.
By cerealbox760 on 08.16.18 8:46pm
And every time that a semi or a tanker full of fuel goes out of control, the guideway that accommodates the skids will be shut down how long until it can be repaired….
By John Crandell on 08.17.18 7:16am
Thats the purpose of heavy duty protected lanes; to reduce human error including rare instances of tankers exploding. You can use paint as guideways the way china is doing.
https://www.curbed.com/2017/11/6/16614986/zhuzhou-china-art-rail-bus
Athough im not sure how Elons skids work(maybe they need a rail) but im guessing they use the same autonomous tech already found in tesla vehicles.
By cerealbox760 on 08.17.18 6:20pm
Right. 125 mph, fullproof to the degree that no skate ever breaks down and all vehicular loaded skates to the rear are not backed up for miles and miles and everyone is trapped and needing to take a crap and/or piss and farting up Musk’s minibuses which will need deodorizers at the very least.
By John Crandell on 08.22.18 11:46am