LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles Metro Board committee re-certified the environmental impact report for a proposed gondola that aims to connect Union Station to Dodger Stadium — a project initiated by former Dodger owner Frank McCourt — after the original documents were challenged in court.
In a 4-1 vote, the Los Angeles Metro Board’s Executive Management Committee approved a supplemental environmental impact report. L.A. County Supervisor and Board member Janice Hahn voted against the item, while Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, a member of the committee, was absent during the vote.
Committee members emphasized that the vote was only about certifying the project’s environmental documents under the California Environmental Quality Act, and nothing more.
The SEIR will be considered by the full board in December.
Metro serves as the lead agency responsible for reviewing mass transit projects in L.A. County.
The transit agency previously approved the final EIR in February 2024. However, two lawsuits were filed, challenging the proposed project’s approval.
In May, the California State Court of Appeals sided with environmental advocates, concluding that the transit agency “abused its discretion” in rejecting a mitigation measure to retrofit buildings to further reduce interior noise levels from construction, according to Metro documents. Additionally, the final EIR did not adequately explain how well certain mitigation measures would help impacted stakeholders beyond what was already assumed in the project’s modeling.
Metro also did not engage in timely consultation with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy as a trustee agency, according to the report.
The court ordered Metro to conduct additional review of the project. The agency released its 437-page SEIR at the end of September.
L.A. County Supervisor and Board member Hilda Solis, who previously negotiated a community benefits agreement for Chinatown and surrounding neighborhoods with project sponsor Zero Emissions Transit, which is leading efforts on the proposed gondola on behalf of McCourt, noted the project requires several approvals before construction can begin.
ZET still needs approvals from the California State Park and Recreation Commission, the Los Angeles State Historic Park, Caltrans, the Federal Highway Authority and the city of Los Angeles for the project, Solis noted.
“I’m grateful that the documentation before us incorporates the community benefits package that I originally put forward at this board,” Solis said.
The agreement detailed “strong guarantees and guardrails,” Solis said. She added that it ensures taxpayers are not left with the bill.
It features robust labor standards, apprenticeships and local hiring promises, a business interruption fund to protect small businesses during construction, free and unlimited rides for Chinatown residents and businesses, and a prohibition on eminent domain and fair market compensation for any public property rights, as well as a new community advisory committee, according to Solis.
She’s made a commitment to ensure affordable housing, senior housing, small business support and the expansion of transit options such as Dodger Stadium Express, if the project is approved by all regulatory agencies.
“I can only see myself supporting this because of the attachment of the community benefits,” Solis said.
Hahn, who opposed the SEIR, emphasized that it’s important not to conflate being a fan of the Dodgers with being a fan of the proposed gondola. The supervisor proclaimed that “no one is a bigger fan than me.”
“I kind of feel like it’s unfortunate Metro got sucked into being the lead agency on this,” Hahn added.
She recognized community members, small business owners and residents who viewed the draft SEIR, and who expressed “a lot of concerns” about it.
Critics of the SEIR said it was a flawed noise analysis and detailed inadequate mitigation to series impacts on Olvera Street, Chinatown and L.A. State Historic Park. Critics also raised concerns about an estimated removal of more than 300 trees, towers next to senior housing, and gondolas flying next to homes, as well as threats to wildlife and cultural sites, according to Hahn.
Hahn emphasized that there is a “better solution” already in place to reduce and ease traffic — the Dodger Stadium Express.
“It already moves a large number of fans efficiently, and can be further improved with motor buses, park and ride locations, and dedicated lanes,” Hahn said. “If we want to get to zero emissions, that can be done with electrifying these Dodger Express buses.”
She urged the Dodgers to lean into the program, and help expand it.
Last week, the L.A. City Council approved a resolution opposing the proposed gondola, introduced by members Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto-Martinez.
“The gondola is more extractive and invasive than it is beneficial,” Helen Campbell, planning director for Hernandez’s office, told Metro committee members. “We reject the false choice between traffic and a private area lying over our neighborhoods. The communities most impacted by the project and the L.A. City Council have spoken loud and clear. We urge you to deny the gondola project and not certify the SEIR.”
Tony Quon, who said he was representing six of the original families of Chinatown, called the proposed project an “investment.”
Quon’s family was among five others — Hall, Louie, Hong, Lee and She Wing Soohoo — who released a joint statement that opposed and criticized L.A. City’s resolution. These families have lived in Chinatown for more than 100 years, according to the statement.
“Our message to the City Council is clear: This motion is flawed and the councilwoman does not speak for us,” the statement read.
“We are clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. We know we will have to hold those implementing the project accountable for these benefits to ensure that key capital improvements to our community are improving the lives of our residents as well as our new and legacy business owners,” the statement continued. “We are also clear-eyed that this is a generational opportunity to reinvigorate Chinatown.”
The Metro committee allowed about 74 individuals to speak on the SEIR. There was a mix of opposition and support for the project.
Supporters argued the project would reduce traffic and air pollution while boosting access to Dodger Stadium.
McCourt, who is also the current part-time owner of the Dodger Stadium parking lot, initiated the project in 2018, officially known as the Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit.
The $500 million gondola aims to connect Dodger Stadium to Union Station along a 1.2-mile route passing through Chinatown and the Los Angeles State Historic Park. Zero Emissions Transit took over the project and sought approvals from regulatory agencies.
The project would feature three stations — Alameda Station, Chinatown/State Park Station, and the Dodger Stadium Station — a non-passenger junction, and three cable-supporting towers.
Zero Emissions Transit and other proponents of the aerial tram say it will provide the first permanent mass transit connection linking Dodger Stadium to the broader Los Angeles transit system.
They say the gondola would operate with zero emissions and would be the first aerial gondola transit system to include a battery-electric backup system, and that the project’s approved environmental study found that it could reduce emissions by over 150,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses over its lifetime.
The gondola is backed by several groups such as the Chinese American Museum, Coalition for Clean Air, Los Angeles and Orange County Building Trades, the L.A. County Business Federation and L.A. Chamber of Commerce, among others.
Nearly 15,000 individuals and more than 400 businesses in Chinatown, El Pueblo and Lincoln Heights have signed up to support the project, which also has the backing of organized labor, business and environmental advocates, according to Zero Emissions Transit.
Meanwhile, some residents and business owners in the affected area argue the project would harm their community and take land away from the public park. They claim the project would exacerbate traffic during construction, increase noise and violate their privacy.
