Thursday, April 04, 2013

Dodger Stadium Parking Problems Resurface for 2013

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!

28 comments:

Hideo Nomo said...

Only Dusty works for feels.

Hideo Nomo said...

But yeah, anarchy is a good way to explain it.

Before, there were attendants guiding you all the way to your spot, so all spots got filled in order. Tuesday, there was only one attendant at the beginning of the aisle, and then it became a free-for-all. Cars were parked haphazardly, so a lot of spaces went unfilled.

Hideo Nomo said...

Then, on the way out, there were attendants kinda sorta guiding people, but one of them instructed us to just make a new lane and cut off a huge row of cars. WTF?

Franklin Stubbs said...

I could go for a feel, actually.

Franklin Stubbs said...

The banner ads for me this morning have been:

1. Criminal Background Checks
2. Gay Marriage Survey
3. 40+ Singles

So, which one of us is secretly George Michael?

Hideo Nomo said...

I got an ad for chopsticks.

Paul said...

I saw one parking attendant on opening day after the game. She looked 12 and she wasn't paying attention.

it would be nice to get out quickly guess we just got to have faith they will someday remedy the situation.


Wake me up before you go go Stubbs.

Steve Sax said...

whoops, "for a feel" had a typo. edited

Steve Sax said...

@Stubbs 11:30a: i think the banner ads derive from your surfing habits.

uh oh.

Steve Sax said...

Reds beat the Angels and take the series:

Shin-Soo Choo homered on Joe Blanton's first pitch of the game Thursday, the first of Cincinnati's three homers off the right-hander, and the Reds pulled away to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Steve Sax said...

Padres up 1-0 on the Mets this season. If they hold on to win, they will join the Dodgers in fourth place in the NL West.

Steve Sax said...

Mets being...the Mets. WP in the top of the eighth scores a Padres run; 2-0 SD. Man on second, none out.

BJ Killeen said...

How hard can it be to direct cars in a line to another set of lines...it appears the new organization hits the big picture but is missing the small stuff.

BTW, our VIP Experience for tomorrow night has us a the stadium at 5:10...that's when everyone gets in. Nothing special there. Our seats are 32FD level, so I think we're buying our own dogs...we'll see what the VIP experience is all about. Will report back Saturday....

Pride of Dong said...

If things continue to decline on the field, we won't have a parking problem....

Dusty Baker said...

"How hard can it be to direct cars in a line to another set of lines"

This is really the essence of it. We can control the Mars Rover with an iPad but we can't park cars?

Opening Day parking (more specifically, exiting) was the worst I've ever experienced. Took me right at an hour to exit, and that was with me eventually just being an asshole and cutting in front of people recklessly. There has to be a better way.

Another annoyance was that I arrived at a specific gate that is associated with the exit I need to use in order to after the game put me back toward where I live. I happen to know that from years of parking there, though I don't know how a newbie or casual fan would have any idea. So when I went to park, they funneled me way around to a different section of parking, which meant that at game's end, I had to exit in a manner that sent me to an exit different from the easiest, shortest, most logical one for me to utilize to get home.

Not just being a whiner but they have to sort out parking soon.

Franklin Stubbs said...

@Sax of 12:19

It can't be based solely on browsing habits because then it would be all clown porn all the time over here.

Franklin Stubbs said...

Being a native Angeleno, I must point out that directing cars from one line to another set of lines is sort of what we do here. It's true, we should be better at it.

There are innate problems with the lots that limit exactly how good they can ever be in their current configuration, but we ought to be doing more to make sure it's not worse

Franklin Stubbs said...

It's a pet issue of mine for the last 15 years or so.

Buy me a drink at that tiny bar and I'll bore you to tears with it.

Dusty Baker said...

You got it, Tiny E.

Franklin Stubbs said...

That was a very Tiny Elvis moment.

Paul said...

That would solve the problem for me, set up a few bars in the parking lot serve booze and I won't leave for a few more hours.

spank said...

*boozes*

Dusty Baker's Toothpick said...

I just parked a 12-pack of Sierra Nevadas in my fridge. Stupid spoiled milk carton was in the way, so I stacked it on top of the leftovers. What kind of person keeps spoiled milk in fridge anyways?

Dusty Baker said...

@Stubbs

Just sayin' it was a tiny bar is all.

spank said...

FUCK MILK!

Loney Fan said...

Being from Redlands, we took the Metrolink in and the shuttle to the stadium. The line for the shuttle after the game was so ridiculous we decided to walk to Union Station. We kept pace with one of the buses the entire time. I can only imagine the hours that it took to finally get everyone from Dodger Stadium to Union Station. After being a part of the shuttle debacle to the Colosseum a few years back, we didn't want to wait and find out.

Steve Sax said...

@Loney fan: how long does it take you to get from Redlands to the Stadium?

Cliff Beefpile said...

Getting in is bad enough, but getting out is just a clusterfuck. It just turns into a free-for-all, and lot attendants don't even try to organize it. People create their own "lines", dicking others over in established lines and it just all goes to hell. There ARE ways to remedy this, but it would take a minimal effort on ownership's part...or McCourt's part, I don't know who would actually be in charge.