Kingy said:
dv said:
dv said:
You know how Melbourne does free public transport for major events?
This is kind of like the opposite.
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FIFA World Cup fans set for $200 train tickets for 15 minute trip to MetLife Stadium
Sky-high ticket prices for matches will not be the only thing emptying the wallets of football fans attending the FIFA World Cup at some US venues this year.
Fans trying to get to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium from New York City can expect to shell out $209 for a round-trip train fare for each match, transportation officials have confirmed.
That is nearly 11 times the regular $18 fare for the roughly 15-minute, 14-kilometre ride from Manhattan’s Penn Station to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. On-site parking will not be available for most fans, so New Jersey officials anticipate about 40,000 fans will use mass transit for each match.
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Taking public transit to World Cup matches in Boston’s suburbs will also be costly.Express buses from various locations to Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s New England Patriots, will cost $132, officials announced this week.
And thousands of fans have already snapped up $111 round-trip train tickets from Boston to the commuter rail station near the stadium. That is four times the $28 riders are normally charged for a round-trip ticket during game days and other special events at Gillette, which is located in Foxborough, a town some 48 kilometres from Boston.
Other World Cup host cities have pledged to keep their transit fares unchanged, noting that the US government has provided some $139 million in transit grants to host cities to provide enhanced bus and rail service.
FIFA has bristled at the suggestion that it should cover the transit costs, noting that the agreements signed with World Cup host cities back in 2018 called for free transportation for fans to all matches. It also argued that no other major event held at MetLife has been required to pay for fan transportation.
So there have been some posts and videos by Europeans saying they will just walk to the stadium, or take the nearest regular public transport and walk the rest of the way.
Americans respond by just telling them it is not possible. The stadium websites seemed to say the same.
This seemed pessimistic so I took a fine look on Maps. It’s true. They completely rebuilt the stadium in 2007 and redid the surrounding roads, and there is no safe or legal way to walk (or cycle) to the stadium from anywhere outside the complex. You would have to charge across several lanes of freeway traffic, which would probably be very busy during a world cup match.
Absolute dogshit design choice.
Normally the train would I suppose be a decent option but not when they are gouging $200.
Merca, fk yeah!
pretty sure this is a small price to pay for free capitalism