Being on the Hollywood Bowl to see a present is a magical expertise. Getting there? Not a lot, because of streets that get so clogged with visitors that it typically seems like each single one of many 17,000 folks filling the storied venue to capability are behind the wheel of their very own automobile inching slowly up Highland Avenue.
Years in the past, in an effort to ensure we acquired to the Bowl on time — reliably, each time — with a minimal quantity of stress, my spouse and I deserted the concept of driving ourselves and parking on-site (a logistical nightmare) or taking one of many a number of shuttle buses from afar (an additional step that some swear by however requires the persistence of a saint), in favor of taking a rideshare, constructing in an additional hour and carrying snug sneakers.
As soon as the visitors inching up Highland Boulevard towards the Bowl slowed from a crawl to a near-complete standstill — which it completely at all times did with not less than 1 / 4 mile left to go — we’d disembark and make the remainder of the way in which on foot. On the return, we’d attempt to beat the congestion and demand by hoofing all of it the way in which all the way down to Hollywood Boulevard earlier than hailing a journey dwelling. Neither of us notably relished including a mile-long stroll to the top of the night time, however the trade-off was avoiding the worst of the inevitable rideshare chaos.
Final time we went, although, issues have been totally different. As a substitute of heading up Highland and straight into the inevitable sea of Bowl-bound visitors, our driver took a circuitous route by the hills, emerged onto Cahuenga Boulevard and headed south. Sensing what appeared to be an epic blunder that might take us instantly into the maw of vehicular misadventure, we exchanged nervous glances within the again seat and checked our watches. Then he did one thing wholly sudden. As a substitute of constant south straight towards the Bowl, he crossed over the Hollywood Freeway (by way of Pilgrimage Bridge), then headed south, taking the swish arc of a proper flip onto Odin Avenue. A couple of minutes later, we discovered ourselves disgorged onto a triangular patch of land throughout Highland from the Bowl’s entrance, which we might simply entry by way of a pedestrian underpass.
After the present (James Taylor continues to be killin’ it in live performance, btw), as a substitute of slogging a mile down Highland to name a automobile, we simply retraced our steps again by the pedestrian tunnel to the magical triangle the place fleets of just lately hailed Ubers, Lyfts and the occasional Alto arrived — additionally by way of Odin avenue — and slotted into numbered rows to make it simpler to find a driver as soon as they arrive. Inside about quarter-hour (lightspeed in Bowl phrases), we have been onboard, waved right into a Highland southbound lane and on our means dwelling. It was a game-changing, Bowl-going rideshare expertise that shaved an excellent two hours and a 1.25-mile hike off our transit time.
A graphic depicting the brand new Hollywood Bowl rideshare hub lot C bounded by Highland Avenue, the 101 Freeway and Odin Avenue.
(LA Phil)
That triangular house was once the Bowl’s car parking zone C, and its conversion right into a streamlined rideshare hub was quietly introduced on the venue’s web site in mid-March — together with plans to dedicate a part of lot B (the stacked-parking lot adjoining to the Hollywood Bowl) to mass transit. Based on a consultant for the L.A. Phil, which manages the Bowl, the venue averages about 1,000 rideshare vehicles per night time.
The brand new rideshare setup, which went into impact when the season kicked off on April 11 (with the Jimmy Buffett tribute live performance “Maintain the Occasion Going”), resulted in chopping 350 of the venue’s 1,700 accessible stacked-parking spots.
Whereas that was definitely dangerous information for anybody making an attempt to snag a kind of remaining 1,350 spots, I can inform you from firsthand expertise that for the rideshare crowd, it’s game-changing excellent news.
The Hollywood Bowl rideshare hub lot C is positioned at 6655 Odin St. Data on extra transportation choices, together with shuttle buses and on–website parking, could be discovered at hollywoodbowl.com.
