The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has provided bus service between Union Station and Dodger Stadium to service LA Dodger home games since 2010. In 2012, the Dodger Stadium Express was successfully implemented and transported over 136,000 passengers during the regular baseball season, eliminating over 70,000 vehicles from Southland roadways.
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The Dodger Stadium Express operated from Union Station at Patsaouras Plaza to Dodger Stadium, located just north of downtown Los Angeles. The occupancy capacity of Dodger Stadium is 56,000, and the parking lot capacity is 20,000. One of the major arterials to Dodger Stadium is Sunset Boulevard. sunset Blvd. is the main collector street that connects with Elysian Park Ave. to the Dodger Stadium main gate. Average weekday PM peak hour level of service on Sunset Blvd. is level D, with a vehicle to capacity ratio (V/C) of 0.879. Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has surveyed Sunset Blvd. on game days and recorded a level of service of F, with a V/C of 1.56. This represents a total gridlock traffic situation.
Prior to each home game, Dodger management provides Metro staff an anticipated attendance level based on current ticket sales and prior year's attendance. The number of buses deployed for the Dodger Stadium Express service varies based on the estimated attendance number. A minimum of seven buses were used for each game, but as many as 16 buses were deployed for sold-out games. Beginning two hours prior to game time, the buses operated at approximately 10 minute headways. During the game, buses returned patrons to Union Station on an as-needed basis. Once the game was completed, buses departed when full, and returned to Dodger Stadium for another trip. Service remained operational until 45 minutes after the completion of the game.
The objective of this project was to provide patrons of Dodger Stadium baseball games convenient access to the ballpark using public transportation and the Dodger Stadium Express.
The Dodger Stadium Express carried nearly 136,000 passengers between April 10, 2012 and October 3, 2012. Patron surveys conducted by Metro staff found that 79 percent of the customers used transit (MetroRail and bus) from their place of origin to get to Union Station and catch the Dodger Stadium Express. An estimated 50 percent of transit riders to the game used Metro Rail and another 5 percent took MetroLink or Amtrak, with the remainder riding buses to Union Station. Only 12 percent of the Dodger Stadium Express patrons drove to Union Station. Four (4) percent walked or rode a bicycle to access the Dodger Stadium Express service.
Metro also provided the Dodger Stadium Express service schedule and map on the Google Transit Trip Planner for customers to easily access online. Interestingly, 53 percent of the Dodger Stadium Express patrons are repeat customers.
Overall, the 2012Dodge Stadium Express eliminated over 70,000 vehicle trips and approximately 1.33 million miles of automobile travel.
The 2012 Dodger Stadium Express season was successfully implemented, the results of which are detailed below.