Seeing a show at the Hollywood Bowl is a magical experience, but getting there isn’t always easy, as the roads can be jammed with traffic and it can feel like all 17,000 people who fill the famed venue are driving their own cars as they slowly make their way down Highland Avenue.
A few years ago, to ensure we got to the Bowl on time, reliably, and with minimal stress, my wife and I ditched the idea of driving ourselves and parking on-site (a logistical nightmare) or taking one of the several shuttle buses that come from farther away (the extra hassle that some people take, but the patience of a saint) and decided instead to take a rideshare, put in an extra hour, and wear comfortable shoes.
Once the traffic slowly moving down Highland Boulevard toward the Bowl slows from lumbering to a near-complete stop (as it always does, with at least a quarter mile left), we get out and walk the rest of the way. On the way back, we try to avoid the traffic and congestion by walking to Hollywood Boulevard and hailing a cab from there to go home. Neither of us found walking a mile at the end of the night particularly enjoyable, but it did avoid the inevitable rideshare chaos.
But the last time we went, things were different. Instead of heading straight up Highlands into the inevitable sea of traffic heading for the Bowl, our driver took a detour through the hills, emerged onto Cahuenga Boulevard and headed south. It felt like an epic blunder that would lead us straight into the maw of vehicular misery, so we exchanged nervous looks in the backseat and checked our watches. Then he did something totally unexpected: instead of heading straight south toward the Bowl, he crossed the Hollywood Freeway (via the Pilgrimage Bridge), headed south, then made a graceful right turn onto Odin Street. A few minutes later, we emerged from the Bowl entrance onto a triangle of land sandwiching Highlands, easily accessible via a pedestrian underpass.
After the show (James Taylor is still rocking in concert, by the way), instead of walking the mile down Highland Avenue to hail a ride, I walked back through the pedestrian tunnel to the Magic Triangle, where my recently acquired Uber, Lyft, and the occasional Alto arrive (also via Odin Street). I waited in a numbered line to make it easier to find my driver when I arrived. In about 15 minutes (lightspeed, by Bowl standards), we were in our car, waved into the southbound lanes of Highland Avenue, and headed home. The rideshare experience to the Bowl was revolutionary, shaving off two hours and 1.25 miles of travel time.
The triangular space was formerly the Bowl’s Parking Lot C, but its conversion into a streamlined ride-share hub was quietly announced on the venue’s website in mid-March, at the same time as plans were announced to dedicate part of Parking Lot B (a multi-storey parking structure adjacent to the Hollywood Bowl) to public transportation only. According to a representative for the LA Phil, which manages the Bowl, the venue averages about 1,000 ride-share vehicles per night.
A new ride-share policy that was implemented to coincide with the season opener on April 11 (the Jimmy Buffett tribute concert “Keep the Party Going”) eliminated 350 of the venue’s 1,700 available parking spaces.
The new Hollywood Bowl Rideshare Hub Lot C is bounded by Highland Avenue, the 101 Freeway and Odin Street.
(Courtesy of the LA Philharmonic)
While this was certainly bad news for anyone trying to grab one of the remaining 1,350 spots, I can speak from first-hand experience that this is groundbreaking good news for rideshare users.
The Hollywood Bowl Rideshare Hub Lot C is located at 6655 Odin St. Information about additional transportation options, including shuttle buses and on-site parking, can be found at hollywoodbowl.com.