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.
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