Game Day: Transit to Sports and Entertainment

Fan-filled sports and entertainment venues bring big juice to cities, generating tourism dollars and civic pride. They also generate a lot of traffic. Recent big events – Beyonce to Taylor Swift to Super Bowls – have put a spotlight on transit access in unique ways. And some venues, hoping to reduce their environmental footprint, are focusing on transit, too. For transit agencies, serving the surge is challenging without compromising regular riders. Also challenging: designing stations that can handle both periodic deluges of riders and the droughts between big events. Let’s hear from different agencies and get the view from the facility managers – about emerging trends and cooperative ideas for making big events work better for the communities that host them.

Shakirah Smith, Program Manager for Special Events, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), Philadelphia, PA
LJ Nassivera, Vice President, Transportation Strategies, New York Mets, New York, NY
Ken Cartwright, Vice President for Capital Construction, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CapMetro), Austin, TX