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Let me out of the ballgame, let me be free of crowds

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Times Staff Writer

If the 1984 Olympics was Los Angeles’ great traffic triumph, then the Dodgers’ 2007 opening day was a tough defeat.

Tempers flared, cars had near-misses and some people said they waited 90 minutes just to get out of the Dodger Stadium parking lot Monday afternoon. Fans said some parking attendants were missing in action.

Dodger officials acknowledged Tuesday that some attendants did leave their posts because they felt they could do nothing for the fans, who were becoming increasingly angry and aggressive.

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“They were in an uncomfortable situation where they couldn’t be helpful and they were really hearing it from the fans,” said Camille Johnston, the Dodgers’ senior vice president of communications.

The first inning of the Dodgers’ new and purportedly improved zoned parking system isn’t close to being over. But even as team officials vowed the situation would prove better than before, fans were heckling like never before.

And it sure didn’t help that they were paying 50% more -- $15, up from $10 last year -- for parking.

“I have a perfect suggestion: Put it back the way it was,” said Brett Morrison, 38, an e-commerce executive who waited an hour and a half to leave the stadium. “I’d pay $20 for parking if they put it back the way it was.”

Traffic and urban planning experts, however, said fans need to give the parking policy more time.

“Longtime Dodger fans have systems they’ve worked out,” said Richard Willson, professor of urban and regional planning at Cal Poly Pomona. “They’re used to strategically choosing parking spaces in this first-come, first-served method. You can’t expect introducing a new system to work perfectly the first day.”

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Zoned parking was designed to avoid the free-for-all at the stadium parking lot in which fans drove in from various entrances and pretty much parked where they wanted. Under the new system, workers using large red flags filter cars from the stadium’s four gates into specified parking areas. The Dodgers say the system will improve flow. But many fans said it caused gridlock outside the stadium gates Monday -- a ripple effect that clogged several freeways and major boulevards.

Willson said zoned parking is in line with current thinking on how large parking lots should be managed. Most new parking lots are designed to direct drivers to specific, empty spaces, eliminating the need to shop around for the best spot. That extra driving within the parking lot often causes needless congestion, he said.

Dodgers officials said some of the problem had to do with the nature of opening day. The typical Dodgers sellout -- usually a night game -- brings about 16,000 cars to the stadium’s parking lot. Opening days bring in about 20,000 cars, and because they’re day games, they often end around rush hour.

One parking lot was reserved for about 600 carpoolers, but only 105 showed up despite an offer of free tickets for a future game. And only 65 people used a $5 parking lot on Stadium Way near a Fire Department training facility, Johnston said.

“Opening day is always a pain in the neck,” she said. “We implemented this plan because we believe it will work better. I think opening day is the most difficult day and fans will continue to see this improve.”

But it remained to be seen if the new and pricier parking plan would prove inspired in the long run.

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Johnston said the new parking system should be judged on days other than the singularly chaotic open day. Either way, she said, team officials were “definitely debriefing.” During a less packed night game Tuesday, the traffic and parking problems seemed to lessen.

James Campbell, an Orange County government worker, said he had a great time on opening day. Of course, in car-crazy Southern California, he took an alternative route.

“It was fabulous. You know why? I took the train,” Campbell, 39, said. “We walked over the [110] freeway from Union Station and back and we could see the logjam over the freeway. It’s not something I’d want to brave.”

Chris Pulliam, a 31-year-old paralegal for a downtown firm, said he watched frustrated drivers “creating their own lanes. I watched easily 15 to 20 vehicles driving down the center divider of a street.

“It’s not only a problem of parking within the stadium. It’s also the access routes in and out of the stadium, backed up freeways and streets in the neighborhood,” Pulliam continued.

Dodger Thoughts blogger Jon Weisman said he was taking a wait-and-see approach, although he added that the early reports weren’t good.

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“I don’t think anyone expects the Dodgers to eliminate stadium traffic entirely,” he said. “That being said, given that the Dodgers have increased the basic cost of parking 50% from last year, fans have a right to expect significant improvement, and many are pessimistic that the Dodgers can deliver.”

Jeff Coggins, 44, a graphic arts salesman from Sherman Oaks, said he didn’t know what the extra $5 was paying for. The concession lines seemed longer than before, and getting in and out of the stadium seemed worse than ever, he said.

“I’ve been to opening day the last six or seven years, and this was absolutely one of the worst years. It was a free-for-all,” Coggins said. “I have no problem paying $5 more to park if it’s like Angel Stadium. I was there for Game 7 of the World Series against the Giants, and it took less total time to get in and out of that stadium for that.”

Traffic problems and major sports events have always gone hand in hand. L.A. Olympics officials won international praise when the predictions of massive gridlock during the 1984 games failed to materialize thanks to a comprehensive plan for reducing traffic. Many employers instituted flexible work hours or allowed them to work from home, and truck traffic was restricted during certain periods.

David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute, said he was also stuck for about an hour in the parking lot. He said fans were furious, hopping out of cars as lines backed up after the game.

And that’s not good for business, he said.

“Parking is the first touch-point customers have with you, and it is their last at any given event,” Carter said. “If there’s a hiccup on either side, if you can’t get in or you can’t get out or something happens to your car or you’re charged too much, that really resonates with you.

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“From a customer service standpoint,” Carter continued, “parking is arguably the most important issue.... The thing is, when you really think about it, people are used to bad parking in Southern California. It’s not like our standards are that high to begin with.”

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hector.becerra@latimes.com

Times staff writer Tony Barboza contributed to this report.

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