This baseball season, the MSRC will be hitting a home run for air quality as Clean Transportation Funding brings back the popular fan shuttle service from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. The MSRC has provided Metro with $300,000 to operate CNG-fueled 40-foot buses to transport Dodger fans to and from the stadium.
The Dodger shuttle has been a popular way for people to get to Dodger Stadium in the past. During the 2008 season, the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) provided a similar service for the last half of the season. Known then as the "Dodger Trolley," LADOT provided shuttle service for 32 home games and estimated that some 22,532 riders used the service, with an average of a little more than 700 people riding the trolley for each game. Despite this very successful program, the shuttle service was not brought back for the 2009 season due to lack of funding. That's why this season, Metro threw out a pitch to the MSRC for funding to bring back the popular service, and the MSRC came to the plate.
"The MSRC was pleased to step up to the plate and provide Clean Transportation Funding for the Dodger Stadium Express," said Ron Roberts, Chair of the MSRC. "By getting Dodger fans out of their cars and onto the shuttles, we can reduce the number of cars going to the stadium, which will cut back on the vehicle emissions and air pollution that occur when vehicles sit in traffic."
The Dodger stadium Express will leave Union Station every 10 minutes, starting 90 minutes before the game through the third inning. Return service begins in the seventh inning and continues until 30 minutes after the final out. Passengers with game day tickets will ride the shuttle for free, thanks to MSRC funding.
To kick-off the Dodger Stadium Express program, the Dodgers hosted a news conference on March 22 at Dodger Stadium. Metro Board Chair Ara Najarian moderated the news conference, and Supervisor and MSRC Member Michael Antonovich and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were the featured speakers. Other speakers included Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti and Council Member Ed Reyes, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and Metro CEO Art Leahy. Supervisor Antonovich noted the public-private partnership in his remarks saying that such a collaboration is one of the best ways to have a program in government move forward. This broad coalition of leaders in both the public and private sectors demonstrates how the successful collaboration between the MSRC, Metro, the Dodgers and city and county officials can revive such a popular service in light of past funding challenges.
The MSRC, Metro and the Dodgers are all working together to promote the shuttles and to emphasize the importance of clean-fueled transportation and public transit to air quality. Colorful bilingual brochures will be distributed to riders and fans attending the games to let people know about the buses and the benefits they offer and to provide information about the MSRC. Other promotional activities will include a 30-second bilingual promotional video on the buses, signs on the buses, at Dodger stadium and at Union Station announcing the buses, information on how to ride the Express on Metro's website (http://www.metro.net/around/dodger-stadium-express/) and the Dodgers' website (losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/ballpark/public_transportation.jsp), promotion for the service at least once per game on the DodgerVision screen and on the LED ribbon board around the stadium, an advertisement in the game-day program for each game, and on-air promotion of the shuttle service during television and radio broadcasts.
The service began running on April 1 with the Dodgers first pre-season home game, which was deemed MSRC-night at Dodger Stadium. Supervisor Antonovich threw out the first pitch and other MSRC members - Vice Chair and Orange County Transportation Authority Board Member Greg Winterbottom, Cathedral City Councilman Greg Pettis and San Fernando Mayor Steve Veres - were on-hand to help celebrate. The Dodger Stadium Express service will continue throughout the rest of the regular season.
Motor vehicles are the number-one cause of air pollution in California and account for more than half of the state's smog-forming emissions. An average passenger vehicle emits approximately 1 pound of carbon dioxide per mile, so by leaving their cars behind, shuttle passengers can prevent putting about 4 pounds of CO2 into the air for the roundtrip ride from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. The buses will travel along priority lanes and will receive priority routing, furthering the goals of congestion reduction and air quality improvement. Additionally, the Dodger Stadium Express is designed to encourage people to use public transit to get to the games by closing the gap between existing public transportation routes and the stadium.
"The shuttles give Dodger Blue fans the chance to go green this season," commented Roberts.
Pictured below: (Left-Right) LA City Council President Eric Garcetti, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Frank McCourt, Supervisor Michael Antonovich, Metro Board Chair Ara Najarian, and LA Council Member Ed Reyes at the March 22 news conference.
