Far fewer passengers than expected used NJ Transit to get to and from the weekend’s first of eight World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium, temporarily renamed New York New Jersey Stadium, in East Rutherford.
“They had 21,000 people,” Larry Higgs, a transportation and commuting reporter for NJ.com, told NJ Spotlight News. “They were prepared to move 40,000 people.”
NJ Transit initially priced round-trip rail tickets from Manhattan at $150, then dropped the charge to $98.
Other fans arrived via rideshare or on shuttle buses provided by the New York New Jersey Host Committee. More than 14,000 fans used the shuttle, at $20 a ticket.
Rideshare users were subject to surge pricing and faced significant waits.
“Rideshares had a lot of problems getting people out afterwards,” said Higgs. “One of those problems was due to cars’ being able to get back into the stadium area.”
Though Uber is the official rideshare provider for the World Cub, Uber spokesman Josh Gold posted on X.com ahead of the Saturday match that its drivers alone would not be able to support the demand. He called on fans to consider taking NJ Transit.
Both NJ Transit and the host committee deemed Saturday’s operation a success.
“Kris Kolluri, in his role as NJ Turnpike Authority executive director, said there is going to be no magic carpet getting you in and out of the place,” Higgs said. “The same traffic that you see on game days and for major concerts at MetLife was going to happen and it was going to be amplified.”
NJ Transit provided stranded fans with an alternative.
“They do have an apparatus set up where you could buy a ticket to go out on a train,” Higgs said. “So if you came in with Uber you could buy a ticket on site at the stadium as long as they have capacity.”
That ticket, though, will cost $98, even if just one-way.
The next New Jersey match is on June 16 between France and Senegal. The 3 p.m. weekday start means the match may interfere with rush hour. NJ Transit asked commuters to work from home if possible during the four weekday games.
We’re in this together.
For a better-informed future.
Support our nonprofit newsroom.
