Sons of Steve Garvey

A recent official Dodgers press release on parking prices and procedures offers some good and bad news:

The Los Angeles Dodgers will be adding dedicated prepaid lanes for fans purchasing parking passes in advance for games during the 2015 season.

Fans should follow the signage to these designated auto booths at all gates for the dedicated prepaid lanes.

To enjoy these dedicated prepaid lanes, the Dodgers encourage fans to purchase their parking in advance to assist in traffic flow and expedite movement through the auto gates. Advance parking prices are $10 and parking at the gate is $20. The Dodgers also will offer premium parking in advance at $35 and $50 at the gate. To purchase parking in advance, visit www.dodgers.com/parking.

The Dodgers also offer $5 parking in lots 13 and 14 on Stadium Way. The $5 fee is available in advance and the day of the game on a first-come, first-served basis. Lots 13 and 14 are located across the street from each other on Stadium Way, adjacent to the Los Angeles Fire Department training center, a short walk east of the main Elysian Park Ave.-Gate A entrance to Dodger Stadium. A free shuttle will be available for disabled fans.

I know the prices were already announced a ways back but I haven't officially whined about it in this space yet. Outside of advanced parking purchases, parking is now back up to McCourtian levels. So much for that feel-good Magic Johnson announcement that prices were being lowered right after the new ownership group took over. As Steve Martin famously noted in "The Jerk," it's a profit thing.

I'll try out the prepaid lanes soon and report back on how that goes.  Seems like a good idea so hopefully it will be well executed and help traffic flow. I always seem to be behind an old lady paying for parking with pennies.

From a Dodgers press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers will offer $5 parking in lots 13 and 14, beginning with the next homestand, May 8-11 against the San Francisco Giants and May 12-14 versus the Miami Marlins. The $5 fee is available in advance and the day of the game on a first-come, first-served basis. The special offer is being made on a trial basis.

Lots 13 and 14 are located across the street from each other on Stadium Way, adjacent to the Los Angeles Fire Department training center, a short walk east of the main Elysian Park Avenue-Gate A entrance to Dodger Stadium. The lots will open to the public at the same time as the other Dodger Stadium parking lots. A free shuttle will be available for disabled fans.

“We have added this parking availability to provide our fans with another savings option that offers easy in and out access and is a 10-to-15 minute walk to the stadium,” said Dodgers’ President and CEO Stan Kasten. “By parking in lots 13 and 14, fans can avoid some of the traffic entering and exiting the stadium lots before and after games.

“We continue to experiment with ways to improve access to Dodger Stadium. The more drivers that park in lots 13 and 14, the fewer the cars that will enter the Dodger Stadium lots through the auto gates and it will help in our ongoing efforts to ease traffic congestion.”

Finally, my first game of the 2014 season at Dodger Stadium and boy was it a doozy.  Mama Cora and I braved the elements in the 80 degree sunny and mild spring day.  We tried to show up early, but even at 5:30 pm, the traffic on Sunset was pretty congested.  When we arrived at the parking booth, our prepaid season ticket holder parking pass would not register on the scanner.  Security told me to pull my car to the side while they took 15 agonizing minutes to figure out that they could just give me the yellow sheet for my dashboard and send me on my way while they resolve the situation later.  But we finally got inside the stadium and picked up our nice, soft Dodger hoodie.  Unfortunately the right sleeve has the Time Warner Cable insignia on it, but I am hoping to scratch that off.  (On a side note, I am trying to tweet snarky comments to every Sportsnet LA tweet they put out).

 I then got to witness the glory that is Think Blue BBQ and the seats over looking the bullpen.  Mama Cora wanted to find an opening day pin, but the left field team store ran out and they directed us to the right field store.  While walking behind centerfield, I heard a "clunk clunk" and to my right a ball was rolling down the stairs.  So I ran over and picked it up.  Woohoo!  It seems like it was a batting practice home run ball by a Tigers player to left centerfield.  This was my second HR BP ball I have snagged, bringing back memories of the first one I snagged at Oriole Park in Baltimore.

Batting Practice HR Ball

Feeling elated, we walked over to the RF Team store and bought the last opening day pin for Mama Cora, which made her day.  Of course, we had to stop by Tommy Lasorda's Italian Trattoria and try the meatball sandwich.  Impression:  Meatballs were thick and juicy, but bread was kinda stale and I feel that the sandwich could use more sauce.  A 6/10 of the Blue Plate Special o' meter.  We stopped to admire all the statues: Dodger dog, Rawlings glove, Tommy bobblehead, and the World Series ring.  I thought it was very cool to be able to walk all the way around the field level section.  What a treat.

Tommy's Meatball Sandwich

Much has been said (unfortunately not seen, thanks to Time Warner Cable) about the game.  One of the new Dodger sponsors is Forest Lawn Mortuary.  Kinda gruesome and I'm sure there are going to be a lot of jokes about that if we don't win the World Series.  Around the 8th inning, there was a Detroit Tiger fan down the 3rd baseline who would just stand and hold up her right hand while the Tigers were rallying.  She continued to do this for the whole inning and then around the end of the 9th she left.  What was funny was that after the walk off win when all of the Dodger players were coming back to the dugout, Uribe was looking for her and holding up his right hand and smiling.  It was great to see the boys in blue back in action.  Nice to get that walk off win!  Go Blue!

Forest Lawn: Plan Ahead.  Really?  That's our sponsor?

Miggy and Matt

Walk off baby!  Puig and CC hug it out!

From longtime SoSG-a-maniac "Todd"

Hemmed in by yesterday's CicLAvia, we had to take the long way to the stadium which made for a nice warm up of getting stuck in Clipper traffic downtown. Even so, we arrived in only 45 minutes (not bad for a 12 mile drive) which meant we'd have a full hour and a half to check out all the new stadium upgrades before the first pitch.
As we hung a left onto Stadium Way, I boldly said to my wife, "Can't wait to see how great our free parking spot is." Before those ill-fated words even finished falling out of my mouth, we realized we were doomed. Doomed all the way down into the far off, yet welcoming, bosom of Elysian Park- something that only ever happens when the Yankees are in town.


Nearing the end of our nearly mile long slog, we realized the culprit. It wasn't die-hard Lupe Fiasco fans. Nope, Boylston Street had suddenly become a no parking zone. Thanks to one lone sign on an orange cone, half of Dodger Stadium's complimentary parking was wiped from the map.

Was this a temporary Opening Weekend policy? Hard to say but the zip-tie lashing the sign to the cone looked like it was in it for the long haul. Plan on arriving extra early if you want that free parking.

Thank you to the Cornhusking Todd for the friendly warning. I used to be the king - or at least, court jester - of the street parking. But no more. A sign of reaching my fourth decade - I don't mind shelling out the $10 if it saves me some walking.

From a Dodgers press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers will maintain its $10 parking price in 2014 to those fans that purchase parking in advance for the upcoming season. The charge for those without an advance parking pass will be $15.

"The fan experience is of paramount importance to the Dodgers," said Dodgers' President & CEO Stan Kasten. "We have been examining ways to improve our traffic flow at Dodger Stadium. We feel one of the best ways to expedite movement through the auto gates is for fans to have a prepaid parking pass when they arrive at Dodger Stadium. Transaction times will be improved."

The Dodgers also will offer premium parking in advance at $35 and for $50 at the gate.

Dodger fans that have bought individual game tickets are encouraged to go online to purchase parking for the games they are planning to attend. Season ticket holders and mini-plan holders who did not purchase parking can take advantage of even a more reduced parking price by calling 323-DODGERS.

The Dodgers are continuing to study other transportation improvements and parking enhancements to improve ingress and egress and will have a few new initiatives in place at the opening of the season. Among the changes for the 2014 season are:

• Restriping the many lots, modifying circulation patterns and improved on-site signage.
  
• Added bike racks to encourage bicycles as an alternative mode of transportation to Dodger Stadium
  
• Enhance and promotion of the use of public bus on Sunset Boulevard and better marketing at the Metro Gold Line Chinatown and Red Line Hollywood Stations
  
• More and clearer way-finding signage directing traffic to underutilized gates
  
• Additional on-site parking spaces

The Dodgers are working closely with LA Metro and the city of Los Angeles on the many transportation alternatives that serve Union Station and that will connect fans to the Dodger Stadium Express. Last year, the Dodgers, the City of Los Angeles and LA Metro added a dedicated bus lane on Sunset Boulevard from Union Station to Elysian Park Avenue. Dodger game day tickets are honored as payment to ride the bus service and the shuttle operates 90 minutes before the game and 45 minutes after the game. For specific route and schedule information, fans can visit www.metro.net or call 323.GO.METRO.

For further information on Dodger parking, visit www.dodgers.com/parking or call the Dodgers' ticket office at 323-DODGERS.

photo by Richard Hartog/LA Times

Ever since we've published this blog, Dodger Stadium parking has been a mess. Fran McCourt's adminstration revamped the entire lot system in 2008, only helping the rich (sort of like his renovation of only the field level. And it was stated by the Dodgers that this recent offseason's stadium renovations "repositioned" some parking spaces"

Bad news, boys. It is now clear, after three games, that a whole new myriad of parking problems now plague Dodger Stadium in 2013.

I appreciate that it's the Opening Series, against the Giants, and that two of the games were sellouts. But our personal experience plus the experiences that we've heard from our readers indicate that the new system has lost ground in efficiency, rather than gained ground. It comes down to three causes:

• 1. They've moved diagonal parking inside the interior ring. This is a disaster as drivers have to back up into oncoming traffic, holding up main traffic lanes and arteries in order to get out of their spots. Getting out of Lot G (behind the pavilions and scoreboards), for example, is particularly treacherous.
• 2. The cones allowing for egress from the outside (general parking) lots, directing out the main arteries out of the stadium, have disappeared. As a result there is complete anarchy as drivers try to get out of the general parking lots--this was definitely our experience trying to get out of Lot 1 (left of the Sunset Gate).
• 3. They have cut back on human parking attendants, particularly those directing pedestrian traffic into the crosswalks. As a result, people are walking everywhere in between oncoming traffic, snarling traffic on the main rings again.

We're interested to hear if you readers have experienced any of these issues. Opening Day was a disaster exiting the Stadium, but I can give that a pass; but this can't continue.

Dodger Stadium has suffered from parking efficiency issues for years. Recently, many of these issues had been abated when attendance fell precipitously. But if Guggenheim Management expects the Dodgers to draw again, fixing the parking issues is a critical area to address and improve, in order to keep the customer experience top-notch.

SoSG is happy to help consult (for a fee). We'll be waiting for Kasten's call!

Hallelujah. Instead of $15 per car, it's now $10.

We've documented the McCourt Era's continual gaffes with parking fees and policies throughout the history of this fine blog:

• Doubling the parking fee, during his ownership tenure, from $8 to $15.
• Molasses-speed parking lot jams due to a faulty new "system".
• Disregard for nearby residents' concerns.
• Wimpy enforcement of no-tailgating policies.
• Buck-passing when it came to subsidizing transportation alternatives.
• Taking the parking fee increase to astronomical levels for special occasions.
• Trying to convince the fans that the parking increase was due to other stadium renovation work.
• Even using the furor over parking mishaps to conceal other management ills.

Look, we all know that Arte Moreno got a lot of press after taking the helm in Anaheim (the suburb of Los Angeles) and cutting the price of beer in the stadium. Here's a toast to Stan, Mark, Magic, and the Goob for making their ownership stamp visible and clear. This Son, for one, really appreciates it. (Now about all those prepaid parking fees for my season tickets...)

For the record, Arte only cut the price of beer 16%.

That's only like 30 parking spots total, right? Forget that!

Mechanix Illustrated magazine illustration courtesy of Dodger Thoughts, who caught it on Baseball Think Factory.

From the most trusted source in the ongoing ownership saga...

Rick Caruso, Joe Torre withdraw from #Dodgers bidding, citing McCourt's refusal to sell parking lots: lat.ms/AcV0Tj

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) February 23, 2012

Shaikin has more here. (LATimes.com)

This is depressing, to say the least. Not necessarily for the loss of Caruso and Torre. They weren't my personal choice for new owners, but they were close to the top of my list. Despite the negative connotation around the term "developer," I've actually come to enjoy Caruso's Americana complex in Glendale. I was intrigued by what plans he might have for bringing a broader audience to the Ravine.

No, the real depressing part comes as we get concrete (no pun intended) evidence of what we all suspected: Frank is hell-bent on maintaining control of the Dodger Stadium parking lots. His intent (and this is pure speculation on my part) is most likely to either jack up parking fees for the paying fan, or charge the new owner an exorbitant amount to do what they want to do with the land. Either way, it sucks. Academy Road, Scott Road, and other alternate parking venues will be even bigger battlegrounds than they are now.

Shaikin mentions that Frank already has at least one bid that allows him to keep the lots. It's a safe bet that's his odds-on favorite right now, no matter how high the other offers are. Maybe that one won't make it past the MLB approval process.

Hold tight everybody, it looks like we're in for some more ugliness before the end of the McCourt Era...if that end even comes at all.

From "Mannywood will return too" by Bill Shaikin at the LA Times:

When Manny Ramirez returns to Dodger Stadium, so does Mannywood.

The fans have spoken, the Dodgers say. They want their "Mannywood" T-shirts, and their special block of seats adjacent to left field.

When Ramirez was suspended May 7 for violating baseball's drug policy, the Dodgers withdrew the Mannywood promotion. He is scheduled to be reinstated July 3, and the Dodgers plan to reinstate Mannywood on July 16, in their first home game after his return.

"We decided to reopen Mannywood directly based on our fans' interest," Dodgers President Dennis Mannion said.

I don't know what methods the Dodgers use to gauge fan interest, but the team certainly seems confident Manny will be welcomed back with open arms. Maybe they suspected this all along, or maybe Manny's warm reception in Albuquerque was all the evidence they needed. In either case, it'll be business as usual starting July 16. Let's just hope it's business as usual with Manny's bat as well.

An unrelated tidbit in Shaikin's article caught my eye:

The Dodgers offered free parking for last week's series against the Oakland Athletics, and Mannion said walk-up sales increased by an average of 1,600 fans a game.

Based on announced figures, we calculated an average of 3,600 walkup sales per free-parking game. So the Dodgers average 2,000 walkups a game. Good to know.

photo by Mark J. Terrill/AP

The Dodgers provided free parking at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Will we see this fabulous offer again? Let's look at the numbers:

	avg attendance[1]	free pkg attendance	walkup sales
Tues	34,895	41,169	3,000 [2]
Wed	35,888	46,274	3,800 [3]
Thurs	35,822	50,492	4,000 [4]
avg	35,471 [5]	+10,443	3,600

And the determining formula goes^[6]:

A. [# of additional fans x $29.66 average ticket price] - B. [# of additional cars x $15 parking fee] - C. [lost parking revenue from fans who would have attended anyway]

Now let's plug the numbers into the formula:

A. 10,443 additional fans x $29.66 = $309,739. - B. assuming two fans per car: 5,222 additional cars x $15 = ($78,330). - C. The paid-parking average of 35,471 fans per game puts Dodger Stadium at 63.3 percent capacity; 63.3 percent of Dodger Stadium's 16,000 parking spaces is 10,128. What percentage of those fans pre-purchased individual or "Mini Plan"[7] tickets that don't require pre-paid parking? We'll assume half, or: 5,064 cars x $15 = ($75,960).

That is to say:

A. $309,739 - B. ($78,330) - C. ($75,960) = $155,449 net profit per game.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

And what of the much-ballyhooed day-of-game ticket sales? An average of 3,600 walkups per game accounted for ticket revenue of $106,776. Minus the lost parking costs of $27,000, the team made $79,776 of its free-parking profit on the day of each game.

In other words, more than half of the Dodgers' free-parking profit was generated by walkup sales, which makes sense given the weekday games. The Dodgers could likely increase advance ticket sales by giving more notice for free parking, or even — heaven forbid — offering it on a weekend, when fans are more likely to commit to plans in advance.

On top of their nearly half a million dollars of free-parking profit, the Dodgers can count revenue generated by additional concession and souvenir sales (including those by fans who reallocated their parking money), as well as the positive publicity generated by the promotion.

The verdict? The Great Parking Experiment of Aught-Nine was a win-win situation for fans and management. Expect to see more free-parking promotions in the future.

♦

1. not including fleece blanket, Casey Blake bobblehead and cooler bag giveaway nights
2. as announced in a Dodgers press release
3. as reported by Robots Took My Medicine
4. as announced by Vin Scully during that game's telecast; actually 4,000+
5. over ten qualifying games
6. "Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo; Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo."
7. It's unclear whether pre-paid parking is compulsory for Mini Plans; we'll assume not.

Happy Monday morning! Need some good news to get your week started off right? Here it is. From a Dodgers press release:

As the school season closes and spring turns into summer, the Los Angeles Dodgers will provide Free Parking in the general lots at Dodger Stadium for the three-game series June 16-18 versus the Oakland Athletics. Gates open at 5:10 p.m. and game times are 7:10 p.m.

Fans will be able to enter all Dodger Stadium gates, where the $15 parking fee will be waived for entrance into the general lots. Fans who have purchased preferred parking will still park in their sections.

"This gesture is our latest initiative to help ensure that all of our fans can enjoy our National Pastime at Dodger Stadium," said Dodger CEO Jamie McCourt, who helped create the Commissioner's Fan Initiative at the beginning of this season. "With the conclusion of the school year, we want to make it even easier for families to spend their summer evenings with us."

A classy gesture to Dodger fans, to be sure. Completely unnecessary, completely unexpected and a fine way to gain positive publicity while increasing attendance.

But — smokers know there's always a but! — what of those poor unfortunate souls who have already had to pre-pay for parking? Does this mean the Dodgers have essentially picked $45 from the pockets of every season-ticket holder?

Since this free parking promotion favors the common fan, I'm all for it. But it also proves there's no pleasing everybody. And there's no crying in baseball. Somehow it proves that too.

The Dodgers issued a press release late yesterday stating that they will enforce their no-alcohol policy on stadium premises. From their press release:

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers, intensifying their efforts to preserve and protect Dodger Stadium’s family atmosphere, today reaffirmed their commitment to the enforcement of policies regarding the use of alcohol, particularly in the parking lots before the game.

Fans are not permitted to bring alcohol onto the premises, and the club will increase its signage and patrols in the parking lots to ensure continued enforcement of this policy. Violators are subject to ejection. The club’s concessions partner, Levy Restaurants, will reinforce their commitment toward responsible alcohol service. Alcohol sales stop in the 7th inning.

“These policies underscore our commitment to preserving the environment that families seek,” said Dennis Mannion, the Dodgers’ President and Chief Operating Officer. “More than 99 percent of the fans act responsibly; we will be unrelenting in our pursuit of 100 percent.”

When the Dodgers begin their next homestand, April 30 through May 10, fans will find increased signage outside the parking entrances and in the parking lots, in English and Spanish. Security officers will increase patrols of the parking lots.

“We want fans to know in advance that we are taking these measures,” Mannion said. “The idea is not to eject fans, but to welcome them. If fans know in advance that they cannot bring alcohol with them, then we hope they can enjoy the experience with the rest of the responsible fans.”

Upon reading this, my first thought (because I'm incredibly sarcastic at core) was "Hooray! Nothing stops pre-game tailgating and drunken revelry in the parking lots like issuing a press release!" After all, it doesn't seem like this action, sending a piece of paper over the wire, exactly hones in on the target demographic of guys opening up the backs and trunks of their cars in the outer edges of peripheral parking lots, proceeding to slug down cases of beer two hours before the first pitch is thrown. I don't think these guys are getting this memo.

But all kidding aside, I have to applaud the Dodgers on this first step toward making the Stadium a safe environment for all Dodgers fans and families to enjoy. Having been at Opening Day this year, it was easy to get pretty concerned. As I wrote from having witnessed rampant tailgating in Lot 1 on Opening Day, my surprise over the amount of wholly unabashed alcohol consumption in the parking lots was only surpassed by the Dodgers security staff doing absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, at one point, I overheard a clearly outnumbered, lonely Dodgers security guy, sitting atop a chair on an elevated tower, have this conversation with a fan slugging down cans of Budweiser:

Dodgers Security: Excuse me, sir, but you really shouldn't be drinking here.

Partying Guy: Oh really? And why is that?

DS: Well, actually sir, it's not allowed in the parking lot. And if a cop comes by and sees you, he's going to give you a ticket and cite you.

PG: Uh huh. Okay, dude, thanks for the warning! I'll take my chances.

DS: Uh, okay.

And literally, I kid you not, that was all that was done. The Dodger Security guy in the tower went back to his reclined position. The Partying Guy kept drinking with his friends. Security guys on electric scooters rolled by, and just ignored the tailgaters altogether. And I probably saw one out of every two cars tailgating, some of them with fold-up chairs boldly positioned in the parking lot aisles, with people exhibiting not a care in the world about being discreet.

And you know, this was a pretty depressing sight, watching willful disobedience without negative consequence, as I just knew it I was going to pay for it later with a more aggressive crowd inside the Stadium. Sure enough, the atmosphere was probably as charged and boisterous as I'd heard in many Dodgers Opening Days--and this time, I was fortunate enough to be on the field level, in the more expensive seats, rather than my usual Opening Day haunts on higher terraces. People were harassing an Angels fan more than a couple of Giants fans. Non-Dodger fans universally "sucked" and were told as much. And if I had had one of my kids there, I'd be a little afraid for their safety. If this is what it was like in the yellow seats, what was going on in the pavilions or the top deck (where the fans don't have well-lit bathrooms, a wide portfolio of concession options, and built-in seat cushions)?

We got this email from another SoSG reader, Alex, describing his own Opening Day 2009 experience:

Two dozen times were the police/security seen walking down my aisle. There were four ejections. A lovely, fat thirty-something drunk was seen groping women as they walked by him on their way to the concessions. A transparent cup filled with Bacardi was passed around. F-bombs rang out like there was no tomorrow.

The guy in front of me spent an entire inning telling me that he enjoyed 'f-ing bitches'. He then [questioned my sexual orientation] because I didn't yell out those same feelings. The poor, single Giants fan in my section had food and other stuff thrown on him. One female security officer came down to check out some other nonsense, and someone yelled out "get out of here lesbian!"

Were there kids in my section? Yep. Did I sit in the bleachers? Nope, field level.

[...]

Yesterday was an incredible day for baseball, but with all the craziness in the stands, who actually realized that O-Dog was going for the cycle as it was happening live?

So let's be fair. That first game was 2009 Opening Day. The gates opened extra early to accommodate fans, and most fans took advantage of it--and what else are you going to do three hours before game time? The Stadium was a packed house. We played the arch rival Giants; who even by the most generous account did indeed suck (being trounced 11-1). It had all the ingredients that would contribute to a highly-radioactive, potentially toxic environment.

And in contrast, my second Dodger game later on that week didn't have quite the same belligerent, acrimonious atmosphere everywhere in the stands, although people were still pretty fired up for the home team. I didn't see any fights or food getting thrown at the few Rockies fans seated around me. So it is indeed possible to be loud fans supporting the Dodgers--even adding the occasional boo for the opposing team--and still be respectful of our fellow men, women, and children in the stands who wear a different hat.

I've been going to Dodger games for years, and I agree, fans seem to be a little more violent and aggressive than they used to be at Dodger Stadium. I don't know if that reflects society's slow regression toward debasement and a general lack of civility; or the pressures of a collapsed economic environment; or the by-product of a car-centric city in which people are cocooned off from other citizens during their commutes; or the frayed edges of smokers jonesing for a nicotine fix but (thankfully) banned from smoking in the Stadium's confines; or, the lack of effective security and policy enforcement at Dodger Stadium. We all, as fans, need to do our best to be role models to our kids, and we clearly can do our parts. But it's fair to say that more can be done--must be done--to protect those of us who want to come to watch and enjoy a game and cheer on their team. Even if it's the Giants.

Steps like issuing this press release, reiterating the Stadium's alcohol policy, or the new (or perhaps just more publicized) Stadium program allowing fans to discreetly and anonymously text Dodgers Security to point out uncivil fans or inappropriate behavior, are good first steps. But posting a couple of more signs in the parking lots isn't going to stop the tailgating--enforcement needs to come with it. And that means more guards, in more places, doing more than just a slap on the wrist from a passing segway.

I'm hopeful the Dodgers will back up their stadium policies and enforce them in kind. The alternative, things getting much worse and more obnoxious and unfriendly, can only end badly--for the Dodgers, and their fans.

Where is the Dodger Trolley? Steve Hymon, until recently the LA Times' traffic and transportation writer, reported that an average of 704 riders took the trolley between Union Station and Dodger Stadium last season. Hymon reports "city officials were saying it would cost $350,000 to run the trolley for a full season in 2009," while Eric Richardson of blogdowntown estimates the cost from $383,000 to $630,000.

The Dodgers averaged 46,056 people per game in 2008, meaning that roughly 1.5 percent of those in attendance took the trolley. So while the Dodger Trolley was considered a success, the cost of transporting those 704 fans would far exceed the revenue they would generate (not to mention lost parking costs). Even a partial subsidy would represent a substantial loss. And that's why Frank McCourt's wallet is staying shut.

All pre-season indications were that the chances of trolley service resuming were "slim" and "on the ropes," while the Dodgers' former trolley page simply redirects to the general Dodger Stadium information page. Advertising may be the only hope to revive the trolley this year, writes Richardson, but there are currently no signs of that happening.

Although there certainly must be a way to assign a dollar amount to the goodwill and positive publicity generated by funding public transportation, it's apparently not enough to make McCourt bite. So, enjoy the extra traffic congestion created by an average of 704 additional fans on the road, and the Dodgers will enjoy the parking fees they pay.

Thanks to my biz-savvy colleague Sax for his take:

You should add, though, a quantification on how much Frank would lose per game in parking fees. For the 704 fans, if they drove two to a car (a generously conservative assumption at best), that's 352 cars per game, or $5,280 in parking fee revenue per game, or $427,680 in incremental parking revenue per season. And that's money Frankie doesn't want to lose.

I would counterargue this, though, by saying that what if a fraction of that 704 people decide to f' it and not come if there's no trolley. If a quarter of them stay home instead, that's 176 people, who then aren't paying an average admission of $29.66, a loss of $5,220 in ticket revenue each game, or almost $423,000 a season. And that's not counting concessions (food and memorabilia), which would more than compensate for the cost of the shuttle.

In short, Frank is [er, unwise]—in the efforts to protect his parking revenue, he's probably sacrificing an overall revenue gain.

Elsewhere: Dodger Trolley Drops Into Money Pit (nbclosangeles.com)

Dodgers photo via Streetsblog

Sorry this post comes late, but I've been away this weekend and just realized the Dodgers will support reopening a Union Station to Dodger Stadium shuttle service, which pending city council approval might be running as soon as next month.

Now before you get all excited, let's make sure you know what you're getting into. First, according to City Council President Gil Garcetti, fans would be "expected" to "pay a nominal fee to ride the shuttle." Assuming that said nominal fee is below the current $15 hostage tax for parking at the stadium, I suppose that's a benefit to Dodger fans.

And guess who's funding the bill for this? Not the Dodgers. The City of Los Angeles!

Under the plan, the city will cover the estimated $70,000 cost of the program through surplus funds in the transportation department, with the Dodgers responsible for marketing.

So let me get this straight. Ridiculously high gas prices have given our transportation department aberrantly high surplus funds, amidst a city and state in economic shambles and budgetary ruin. And Frank McCourt comes along to pillage one of the few coffers of money that the city's got, in exchange for making Rick Monday remind us of the nominal-fee shuttle during the middle of the sixth inning? ("Friends, did you know that the Dodgers shuttle runs from Union Station...") Why aren't the Dodgers chipping in with a reasonable effort here?

Frank, you're getting $12 for a large beer at the stadium, and probably profiting $11.25. You can pitch in to bring in some extra people to the stadium, who are still going to buy tickets, concessions, and probably a souvenir or two. What you'll lose on parking costs, you'll gain back elsewhere--and at these gas prices, another deterrent to spending a night at the stadium now exists. The Dodgers might want to embrace public transportation before declining attendance embraces them.

The Dodgers are a major league team deserving of a legitimate and affordable public transportation solution. It's time they start acting like a big league team to their fans and their city. Especially when the team on the field isn't playing like one.

UPDATE: A faithful reader (thanks R.S.!) alerted me to a link with more insight into how the Dodgers don't feel like a shuttle service should be on their tab. Yay.

Nice article from Steve Hymon on Friday summarizing the parking problems around Dodger Stadium over the past year. For those of you who haven't followed this issue, one of this blog's favorite issues (search "parking" on the sidebar for earlier articles), Frank McCourt overhauled the entire Dodger Stadium parking system last year, leading to a disastrously snarled Opening Day as well as dozens of messes thereafter. Hymon recaps last year's Opening Day catastrophe and McCourt's grossly ineffective system:

Opening Day in 2007 has already gone into the record books as one of the worst traffic days in stadium history. A new parking system, requiring fans to park and exit in certain locations as opposed to picking their own spots, led to epic gridlock.

"Leaving the game was like walking out into a war zone," McArthur recalled of her two-hour journey out of the stadium parking lot. "There was literally nowhere you could go."

The Dodgers, for their part, like their parking prospects this year, pointing to a lineup featuring 1,000 new spaces, which were created when some landscaping between lots was removed. As for the team, they play host to the world champion Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium tonight and Sunday afternoon, followed by the regular season opener Monday against the division rival San Francisco Giants.

Hymon goes on to discuss how tonight's Coliseum game will be supported by free shuttle service from Dodger Stadium, as well as a number of public transportation options that the Dodgers have (to their credit) repeatedly publicized (knowing that 110,000 fans will make Exposition Park quite a jam this evening). But then the article gets interesting, as Hymon asks a Dodgers representative the painfully obvious question: why not restore bus service to Dodger Stadium, making it publicly accessible for its fans (and joining almost every other major MLB team of note):

The bus service to the Dodger game is the exception, not the rule. Once the season begins, the Dodgers will remain one of the few teams in the Major Leagues without mass transit serving their stadium.

The other big league parks in California -- in Anaheim, San Diego, San Francisco and Oakland -- are next to rail lines. And the stadiums for the Padres and Giants were deliberately built with a limited number of parking spots, many of which are expensive, to encourage people to take mass transit. The Angels' ballpark is next to a Metrolink and Amtrak stop, although train schedules aren't coordinated with game times.

Conversely, the Dodgers have more than 16,000 parking spaces, more than enough for most games. Buses used to stop behind left field, but service was suspended after the 1994 season because of transit budget cuts. In 2004, low ridership prompted the team to suspend the shuttle service it provided that year on Friday nights from Union Station.

City and county transportation officials have said they don't have the money to add new routes and that altering existing ones would inconvenience other riders. So the closest bus stop remains on Sunset Boulevard, down the hill from the park.

And the Dodgers aren't willing to foot the bill for new service.

"We think this should be done by the public," said Howard Sunkin, the team's senior vice president. "We've spent in excess of $150 million to restore the stadium, with more to come, and our fans are looking for public transportation."

So what Howard Sunkin is saying is, screw the public, we're not paying for public transportation options--and he's hiding behind the $150M stadium refurbishments as a weak shield. But let's look into that $150M:

• The majority of that money has gone toward additional "luxury box" seating, as well as two exclusive clubs with special eating options not available to the normal ticketholder;
• That $150M includes the cost of redoing the luxury box seating after only one year, as the sightlines were awful and ticketholders who paid the hefty fees complained (in fact, the only reason why "luxury boxes" exist in the first place is there isn't enough elevation to add additional rows of seats, without having each fan starting right into the back of a head);
• The source of that $150M isn't the McCourts' noblesse; rather, Dodger ticket prices have increased by more than 100% in most areas, and parking prices have almost doubled as well from $8 to $15 since the McCourts took over--and by the way, even the people in the cheap seats are feeling the sting of higher prices.

Sunkin's haughty, elitist response is absolutely absurd and further reinforces how the Dodgers organization is out of touch with the common fan. Offering a public transportation option is more than a simple economic calculation; it's a business responsibility for a quality major league team that wants to take advantage of its large market fanbase. And it's not like the fans who are interested in taking the bus are net losses--not after buying $8 glasses of beer and $5 Dodger Dogs.

It's striking that the Lakers, with fewer lower-priced seats available, carry a strong passion among the full spectrum of income classes in this city, especially since most people can't even afford to go to a game (and if they do go, they are so high up in the nosebleeds of the Staples Center that they need oxygen tanks to breathe). Meanwhile, the Dodgers--who have no shortage of seating options for most games--can't find a way to fill extra seats that are otherwise going to sit empty for games.

Get in touch with the fans, Dodgers, and underwrite a couple of buses here and there. Those fans will reward you with concession and souvenir sales and attendance records, and may even give you a shot at returning this town to being a Dodger town rather than the Laker town it has been since the late 1980s. Be nice to your fans--all your fans, not just the rich ones--and they'll be nice to you. Do the math.

According to the Dodgers' own press release, parking around the Coliseum around the USC campus will cost $25, a $10 increase over Dodger Stadium parking prices last year.

Parking on the USC Campus will be available at five gates. Lots open at 8 a.m. with each slot costing $25.

• Gate 1 – Enter at Exposition Blvd. and Watt Way (just East of Menlo Blvd. on north side of Exposition Blvd.)
• Gate 3 – Enter at Figueroa Blvd. and McCarthy Blvd. (across from Radisson Hotel on west side of Figueroa Blvd.)
• Gate 4 – Enter at Jefferson and Royal (immediately East of Hoover on south side of Jefferson)
• Gate 5 – Enter at Jefferson and McClintok (just East of Vermont on the south side of Jefferson Blvd.)
• Gate 6 – Enter at Vermont and 36th Street (across the street from Togos on the east side of Vermont)

Hopefully Frank doesn't get any more parking-rate-increase ideas for the regular season.

To be fair, the Dodgers are also offering free parking at Dodger Stadium and a complimentary shuttle service before and after the game (reservations recommended at (323) 224-1507).

And, they even suggest some public transportation ideas via Metro. Hmm, what a novel idea, public transportation options!

According to "Curbed Los Angeles," LA city officials are going to solve the Dodger Stadium traffic by creating an air tram system which would travel between Chinatown and Chavez Ravine. Sounds great - can you imagine the view from the tram? But I am sure that McCourt and company will charge $10 bucks for this special access.