Driving to Dodger Stadium? Here’s how to skip the traffic jam

Need a reason to carpool to next week’s playoff games at Dodger Stadium?

More than 20,000 cars parked Monday night before the Dodgers played the Atlanta Braves. Parking lots filled up, and hundreds of drivers without parking passes were turned away.

To reduce the chaos, carpools of four or more people will get free parking during next week’s games against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The same carpoolers may find their drive to Elysian Park more painless as well: In the most congested stretch of Sunset Boulevard, bus lanes will be open to cars of four or more. The lanes, between Figueroa Street and Elysian Park Avenue, will allow cars from three hours before the first pitch until 8 p.m.

“It’s a very unique situation,” said Jonathan Hui, a Transportation Department spokesman. “There’s not many high-volume places where there’s a bus lane to use... and the Dodgers don’t make the playoffs that often.”

The Los Angeles Police Department will be ticketing any cars with fewer than four occupants that are using the bus lane, Hui said.

For those who want to avoid parking entirely, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be running shuttles from Union Station. The service is free for anyone with a same-day Dodgers ticket.

Buses leave every 5 to 10 minutes from Bay 3 of Union Station’s Patsaouras Transit Plaza, starting three hours before the game and ending after the third inning. The buses drop fans off inside Dodger Stadium, behind Center Field. Service ends 45 minutes after the last inning.

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Dodger Stadium playoff parking is free for carpools of four or more