Judge Denies California Endowment Petition on Dodger Stadium Gondola

File photo showing a general view of Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers during a game in the 1990 MLB season at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles, Calif. Getty Images

LOS ANGELES—A judge has formally denied a challenge to an agreement between Metro and a private company concerning the possibility of a proposed private, multimillion-dollar aerial tram to transport riders on gondolas between Union Station and Dodger Stadium.

The California Endowment’s Los Angeles Superior Court legal action targeted the gondola project headed by Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, which defends the project as proven technology and clean transportation. But the petitioner, a nonprofit group, argued there was insufficient public input.

Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff issued a tentative ruling ahead of Jan. 6’s hearing in which he said he was inclined to reject the petitioner’s claims. He then took the case under submission and finalized his rejection of the petition on Monday.

The Ruling

In his tentative ruling, the judge lauded the project’s technology.

“Metro justifies its unique and innovative decision based on evidence,” Beckloff wrote. “Metro notes the proposed project would be the first urban aerial gondola system in the country to employ a tricable detachable gondola system, the most advanced technology currently available.”

Metro’s evidence also demonstrates the proposed project would “significantly” improve mobility in and around Dodger Stadium by providing alternative access to the venue, resulting in as much as a 20 percent to 25 percent reduction in vehicle trips to and from the stadium on an average game day—thereby reducing existing traffic for the benefit of surrounding communities and neighborhoods, Beckloff wrote.

In their court papers, Metro attorneys maintained the agency is at this point only conducting the gondola’s environmental review and has not approved any aspect of the project. Additionally, ARTT will reimburse Metro for staff time, and that no Metro funds will be used in connection with the project, according to the Metro attorneys.

Metro is the only respondent in the petition, which lists ARTT as a real party in interest.

But the petition filed last March 22 alleges that “critical actions in matters of vital public interest were taken administratively, without public knowledge, oversight and/or involvement,” all in direct violation of Metro’s own policies.

The California Endowment asked Beckloff to issue a court order directing Metro to immediately halt work on the project, including all Metro staff support provided in its role as the lead agency for the endeavor, and to terminate its “sole-source contract” with ARTT.

“At a bare minimum, the determination that the gondola project could proceed as a sole-source project must be revisited and reversed, thereby ensuring that the gondola project will be subject to public review, oversight, and a competitive bidding process,” the legal action stated.