Metro, ARTT to begin construction talks on Dodger Stadium Gondola

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, better known as Metro, has signed a letter of intent with Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies (ARTT) to begin the negotiations to build a privately-funded aerial gondola to Dodgers Stadium.

Metro says it will move the project from the unsolicited proposals evaluation stage to project development. Following the move, Metro and ARTT will now negotiate to reach agreements on roles and responsibilities for planning and constructing the gondola.

“The signing of a letter of intent with Metro is a critical step in building the gondola between Union Station and Dodger Stadium,” ARTT Project Manager Martha Welborne said. “This privately-funded, zero-emission transit line will have the capacity to move thousands of people every hour while reducing traffic and directly linking Dodger Stadium with the region’s public transit system. We look forward to working with Metro staff to get the aerial off the ground and fans flying to the stadium in 2022.”

A gondola and other options for improving access to Dodger Stadium were part of an informational study in 1990 by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which later merged with the RTD to form Metro. The idea was never pursued until earlier this year when ARTT revived the concept and submitted an unsolicited proposal to Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation.

Metro created its unsolicited proposals program in 2016 to  encourage innovation through partnerships with the private sector that would not have occurred through the agency’s normal procurement process.

Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to build a high-speed underground tunnel system to transport passengers between Dodger Stadium and East Hollywood in just four minutes. Called Dugout Loop, the project is expected to be completed in 2020. (See story here.)