If You Build (a Gondola), They Will Come

The Oakland A's want to build a gondola from one of the city's premier destinations to the proposed location of a new ballpark.

February 9, 2019, 7am PST | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

A new ballpark proposed in Oakland would have a much snazzier method of accessing the ballpark.

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The Oakland Athletics have created a vision for a proposed ballpark near Jack London Square that includes gondola.

Susan Slusser reports that the team released renderings of the propose transit system, including a video simulation of the proposal.

And Kaval shows the gondola simulation pic.twitter.com/I3M3rFCxc0

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) January 26, 2019

"The gondola would ferry about 6,000 people per hour; cabs with a capacity of 30-35 would make a three-minute trip of less than a mile along Washington Street in Oakland, linking the BART station at 12th and Washington to Jack London Square. The gondola would transport an estimated 1 million people per year," according to Slusser's explanation.

The team also hopes the gondola would also be a tourist attraction in of itself, busy on non-game days.

The team released renderings of the proposed ballpark, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, in November 2018. The proposal was met with widespread skepticism about the likelihood of its success

Full Story:

A’s Dave Kaval unveils gondola plan to link BART, Howard Terminal

Published on Friday, February 8, 2019 in San Francisco Chronicle