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Super Bowl XLV111 – Transit Plans


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#1 BillMagee

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Posted 26 December 2013 - 03:00 PM

Week 17 of the NFL season is here and plans for what is billed the first Mass Transit Super Bowl are starting to emerge.

NJ Transit:
On game day NJT will be operating 10-car, multi-level shuttle trains between Secaucus Junction and MetLife Stadium. All rail transit service to the stadium, regardless of where it starts, will include this final shuttle train. There will not be direct service to MetLife Stadium from any NJ Transit rail lines. NJT will operate a modified weekday rail schedule on Super Bowl weekend.

NJT is offering a commemorative “Super Pass” fare instrument. This lanyard-worn card will permit unlimited NJ Transit bus, light rail, and rail rides starting Monday, January 27 through and including the following Monday, February 3. The Super Pass is only available on-line, and must be purchased on or before January 20 (the day after the NFC and AFC championship games). At a cost of $50, this system-wide, unlimited ride pass is a very good deal just for riding trains. A normal weekly Trenton to New York pass is $134.

Amtrak
On game day, Amtrak will have select Northeast Regional trains stopping at Secaucus Junction (normally an NJ Transit only stop). In addition, Amtrak is shutting down all scheduled trackwork for the week, and will keep both Hudson River tunnels in service Super Bowl weekend.

It will be interesting to see if Amtrak makes any special plans if either the New England Patriots or the Philadelphia Eagles make it to the game (as of this posting, the only NEC teams with a chance). Amtrak’s “reserved only” reservation system is fine for heading to the game, but is not ideal for the return given the uncertainty of the finish time.

Express Bus
Special “Fan Express” buses will be run from various locations in the NY/NJ area, including EWR Airport. Round trip cost of the bus is $51.

Parking
Individual car parking will require an advance-purchased permit. Parking is $150. There are 13,000 parking places at MetLife - fewer than normal due to Super Bowl and broadcast use.

Weather
The weather in the New York area in early February is always delightful. Weather should not be an issue at all. I also have a gently used bridge between two New York City boroughs for sale. PayPal accepted.

#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 26 December 2013 - 06:38 PM

They knew what they were getting into when they awarded the Super Bowl to this area. If anyone was looking at hotels, forget it. Just about everywhere the rooms are expensive and in some cases there is a 2 or 3 night minimum. I am sure that the commuter rail spur to the Meadowlands complex helped NJ get the event. Interesting that Amtrak will be stopping at Secaucus Junction. Perhaps it's a dry run for the future? The available connections to other places might make it an attractive place to stop, although they are separate agencies. The transfer between the NEC line and the Hoboken Division lines (and thus the Meadowlands branch line) requires an NJT ticket to pass through faregates. I guess a transfer between Amtrak and NJT will require a waiver of that practice. I don't yet see any city code one could enter to indicate "Secaucus" or "Meadowlands".


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#3 pennyk

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Posted 27 December 2013 - 08:52 AM

I just saw a segment about the Super Bowl on MSNBC. They are predicting that about 12,000 people will travel to the game by rail. They gave a lower figure for those coming by bus. The reporter was calling this a "mass transit" Super Bowl. The cost of getting there is cheap, but the ticket prices are through the roof.

#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 27 December 2013 - 11:30 AM

I just saw a segment about the Super Bowl on MSNBC. They are predicting that about 12,000 people will travel to the game by rail. They gave a lower figure for those coming by bus. The reporter was calling this a "mass transit" Super Bowl. The cost of getting there is cheap, but the ticket prices are through the roof.

Negative on getting there for cheap. As indicted by Bill above, a bus ride from various points to the stadium will cost $51 round trip, which comes to $25.50 each direction. If one took a regularly scheduled bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the stadium it would cost $4.25 each way. Price gouging?? Nah...

Edited by KevinKorell, 27 December 2013 - 11:33 AM.


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#5 pennyk

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 07:54 AM

Negative on getting there for cheap. As indicted by Bill above, a bus ride from various points to the stadium will cost $51 round trip, which comes to $25.50 each direction. If one took a regularly scheduled bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the stadium it would cost $4.25 each way. Price gouging?? Nah...


Apparently, when I saw the MSNBC segment the first time, I was only half watching. Sorry. I just saw the segment again and the reporter stated that they expect 35,000 people to arrive by bus in addition to approximately 12,000 by train. I am not sure that the reporter said the trains were cheap, but it was inferred that the cost of arriving by mass transit is less expensive than parking and "cheap" compared to the ticket prices. The "possible" bad weather was also mentioned.

#6 CNJRoss

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Posted 16 January 2014 - 10:59 AM

Amtrak news release, 1/15:

AMTRAK TO SERVE AS A CRITICAL TRANSPORTATION LINK TO THIS YEAR’S “MASS TRANSIT” SUPER BOWL
Select Northeast Regional/Keystone Service to and from Secaucus, N.J.


Posted in the Amtrak Forum.

#7 CNJRoss

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 07:04 AM

The New York Times, 1/19:

For Super Bowl Jet-and-Helicopter Set, Urging Buses and Rail

It can seem like an impossible math problem, packed with variables that include the reliability of famously fussy rail systems, conditions at the region’s oldest operating airport and the whims of Mother Nature in the dead of winter.

Yet of all the tasks associated with hosting this year’s Super Bowl in East Rutherford, N.J., there may be none thornier than this: persuading well-heeled visitors, accustomed to private jet travel or chauffeured rides, to use public transportation.

“This is going to be a national experiment,” said Mitchell Moss, the director of the Rudin Center for Transportation at New York University. “The high rollers are not used to riding a bus.”

SNIP

Some local New Jerseyans, though, have expressed concerns about their travel choices. James L. Cassella, the mayor of East Rutherford, said that transportation options were limited for those traveling to the game from west of the stadium — or from East Rutherford itself, since pedestrians are prohibited from the site, even if they have tickets.

“They have no way to get there other than leaving East Rutherford to get back to East Rutherford,” he said.

Mr. Kelly suggested that traveling to the New Jersey Transit rail stop at Secaucus Junction, then back to the station at the stadium complex, might be the quickest route from East Rutherford to the stadium on game day. Platforms at the station in Secaucus have been extended, New Jersey Transit officials said, and double-decker trains from the rail’s Raritan Valley Line will be used to handle the expected crush of riders.

Complete article.




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