LA Metro advances Dodger Stadium tram proposal

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has advanced to the second phase an unsolicited proposal for a privately funded aerial tram between Los Angeles Union Station and Dodger Stadium.

Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies LLC made the proposal. In the coming weeks, Metro will ask for more detailed information about the firm's business model, service design and the "value its project would bring to Angelenos," Metro officials said in a press release.

If the agency approves the proposal's second phase, "it could be the basis for a competitive procurement, a sole source agreement or another arrangement depending on Metro’s role and relationship to the project," they added.

Since 2010, Metro has provided free bus service from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. The aerial tram would provide another way to access the stadium from Union Station.

Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies first pitched the $125 million project in April, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this year. Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is funding the company, according to the newspaper.