Perspective

Hate Stadium Parking and Game-Day Traffic? An Idea.

What if every seat at major sporting events came with free bus, train, and subway tickets? It’s called “transit validation,” and it can reduce traffic, pollution, and costs.
Surrounded by a sea of parking lots, fans make their way into Dolphin Stadium in Miami before an NFL game in 2008.Doug Benc/Getty Images

Of the 64,000 football fans set to descend on Miami Gardens this Super Bowl Sunday, relatively few will be coming by public transit. And no wonder: Hard Rock Stadium, where the San Francisco 49ers will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs, has limited bus and no direct rail connections to Miami or Fort Lauderdale, and it’s surrounded by 140 acres of parking lots, some so remote that a new gondola is under construction to ferry ticketholders to the main entrance. Horrendous vehicle back-ups throughout Miami-Dade County are anticipated for the biggest sporting event of the year.

Game-day congestion is part of football tradition, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Enter the concept of “transit validation,” in which sporting venues contract with public transit operators so that all ticket holders can ride buses and trains free on game days. Transit validation increases transit ridership, reduces traffic congestion, saves energy, reduces pollution and carbon emissions, and costs very little.