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  • News
    Dodger Stadium gondola
    A history of the plan's many ups and downs
    By  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
    Published August 20, 2025 5:00 AM

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    A digital rendering depicts peple in Dodger attire walking away from a gondola cabin and toward Dodger Stadium in the background.
    A concept rendering for the proposed aerial gondola station at Dodger Stadium.
    (
    Courtesy LA ART
    )

    Topline:

    The Dodger Stadium gondola plan promised a lot when it was unveiled. But it’s had plenty of highs and lows on the journey for approval.

    The timeline: In 2018, the gondola seemed a bold vision to end traffic congestion at the stadium. But municipal politics and opposition by residents and local organizations have slowed down its trajectory.

    The latest: After a new provision was added to Senate Bill 71, which required all appeals to be limited to 12 months, the Los Angeles City Council voted to overturn its previous approval of the bill if that provision is not removed. The bill is due to be voted on in committee Wednesday.

    Go deeper: Burning questions raised about the project.

    We were all going to soar above downtown L.A. in an aerial gondola of our dreams. Or so it was promised. But with strong community opposition, it’s now seven years later — with no sign of a completion date.

    Here’s a short history of the ups and downs of the Dodger stadium gondola:

    • 2004: Boston developer Frank McCourt buys the Dodgers from News Corp.
    • 2012: McCourt's sale of Dodgers to Guggenheim Baseball Management is finalized. Deal includes provision giving McCourt part ownership of parking lots.
    • 2018: Buoyed by vision of reducing traffic at the stadium, McCourt partners with Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies to fund an environmental report and initial design.
    • 2018: The gondola proposal is revealed to the public at a cost of $125 million. It’s envisioned to take five minutes from Union Station to Dodger Stadium and have the capacity to carry 5,000 fans an hour in each direction.
    • 2018: Critics say it’s a vanity project that uses public land for private use and inevitably will use public money.
    • 2021: The Stop the Gondola coalition forms to limit the impact on Union Station, El Pueblo, Chinatown, and the Los Angeles State Historic Park, as well as residents nearby.
    • 2023: Gondola cost estimate balloons to $500 million.
    • 2023: McCourt Global gifts the project to a new entity, Zero Emission Technologies (ZET), which will be responsible for building, financing, and operating the gondola.
    • 2023: The environmental impact report highlights “significant and unavoidable” impacts such as major construction noise and vibration for two years.
    • 2024: The Metro Board approves the project and certifies its environmental impact report.
    • 2024: After a proposed amendment allows the gondola to be built over the 32 acre L.A. State Historic Park green space, residents push back at a public hearing.
    • May 2025: The California Court of Appeals throws out Metro’s approval of the environmental impact report, saying it didn’t address construction noise and failed to consult the state agency that has jurisdiction over the parks. A new environmental impact report now must be created.
    • August 2025:  L.A. City Council unanimously votes to rescind support for Senate Bill 71, unless a provision favoring the gondola’s developer is removed.
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