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ChineseDaily Transit Links Roundup
Contributed by Fred Camino on February 26th, 2008 at 10:44 am
- Public transit to Dodger Stadium? Why would anyone want that?
- The battle for the Downtown Regional Connector heats up.
- Tonight! Transit Coallition meeting vs. Metro’s Downtown Regional Connector meeting: who’s side are you on?
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Can somebody help me out on the Downtown Connector? As a Metrolink Commuter, would I be able to ride Metrolink to its terminus at Union Station, and then ride 1 train to Staples Center as opposed to transferring at 7th Street?
Mike: Short answer is - it depends. The primary purpose is to link up Pasadena and Long Beach, which were originally supposed to be one line but were split. I’ve seen drafts which hook them up at Union Station, and drafts that hook them up at Little Tokyo. If they link up at Union Station, then yes, you’ll be able to do that.
If they link up at Little Tokyo? From what I’ve seen, “It depends.” If you think that’s an important function (and I agree, it is - South Park is becoming a job center of its own), I’d try to shoot off a letter to Metro about it. This thing really needs to be done very carefully, but the laws of physics means they have their work cut out for them.
I would like getting some kind of cheap people mover to Dodger Stadium (I’ve heard of chair lifts or something like that). This would allow some of the parking lots around the stadium to be used for parks and a City-Walk type project around the stadium. Getting some kind of permanent project like this for the stadium is a win-win for everyone. For baseball fans: another way of getting to the stadium without having to wait in traffic. For everyone else: new parks and some development around the stadium. The tax revenue from those developments could be used to pay for the lift to the stadium.
I wonder if it’ll be easier to just bore a loop tunnel under Chinatown and Elysian Park from the Gold Line and develop lots 4, 6 and 22 into a residential and job village next to the ball park to help pay for the station and then desnify the surface lots into structures and turn the Northern most lots into parks with ponds for the residents in the village.
Yes, bore a stub tunnel off the Gold Line.
It’s a tunnel of only about a mile, and as a Jerard says, the Dodgers could pay for the construction and make up the money by building a transit village there.
Or, more likely, if the tunnel were built, Gold Line trains would only deviate from the current route during game days, about 2 hours prior to start time and 2 hours after the game was over. When there was no game at Dodger Stadium the Gold Line would just go where it goes right now.
Similarly, we need to build an infill station on the Red Line at the Hollywood Bowl. I used to live in the neighborhood and know how difficult the traffic situation was during concerts.
We’ve had season tickets to the Bowl for longer than some of you have been alive. We take the #653 from Chatsworth for the usurious price of $5 RT. It makes money. LACMTA blew the best opportunity on the planet in the last century bar none by not finagling the Hollywood Bowl station on the Red line. Dump us yokels off at Universal City and railroad us in the last few miles. Likewise from points south east and west. Heck, the west part alone would have earned LA the Expo line 10 years ago.
I’d estimate The Go Blue Station served by The Golden Tunnel would cost all told half a billion dollars. The interest on $500m would be $25m over 90 games or $300,000 per game day. Call it a $20 surcharge per round trip rider.
Dodger Stadium could easily make up $20 every game day on food, drinks and merchandising to pay for that.