Crowds waited as long as 2 hours for VTA light rail after last night’s Stadium Series game. Source: @techiewinmom
Last night, transit in the South Bay proved it still has much work to do to handle large event crowds. After last night’s Stadium Series hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks at Levi’s Stadium, we received reports that many fans had trouble getting home on Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail after the game.
Pre-Game Fun
While there were no known problems getting to Levi’s Stadium on VTA light rail and many event-day VTA express buses, one VTA express bus never showed up at at Bascom and Camden.
@VTA you have a group of sharks fans waiting at the Bascom Camden stop waiting for the express bus 255, where is it? pic.twitter.com/dFdNmRewK4
— AnDrew Levers (@MrLevers) February 22, 2015
Many of the light rail trains going to Levi’s Stadium were packed with riders going to the hockey game.
Fans going to the game on VTA light rail. Source: @heathermarcy
Post-Game Disaster After the game, however, was a different story. Some fans had to wait as long as two hours for VTA light rail to take them from Levi’s Stadium back home. Sample rider reports follow.
#LeviStadium #vta #StadiumSeries Can’t believe took over 2 hrs to get to Caltrains after the game. Poorly planned public transit #thanksjed — Alex Herter (@aaherter) February 22, 2015
Well, this nearly 2 hour wait for @VTA is the best argument for driving to/from Levi’s Stadium. Your move @Uber.
— Mel B. (@djmelvis) February 22, 2015
@VTA bart and Caltrain have this figured out why cant you?? This is insane and unacceptable. I will never take light rail to #LeviStadium
— Anne C (@Sparkls42) February 22, 2015
Bright Spots For the most part, VTA express buses proved to be the best bet for travel to and from Levi’s Stadium, as reported below.
Given how insane VTA trains were, somewhat surprised/relieved the bus to Fremont was painless — Gustav N. Davila (@NikJamTheMan) February 22, 2015
@CouchTarts The @VTA express buses continue to be best option. Light Rail gets the press, but buses are awesome.
— David Keller (@dhkeller) February 22, 2015
To its credit, Caltrain waited at Mountain View for VTA light rail riders from Levi’s Stadium after the game.
Almost 3 hours to get back to San Mateo from @LevisStadium via terrible @VTA mess. Luckily @Caltrain_News waited for all late VTA riders.
— paulkaps (@paulkaps) February 22, 2015
Conclusion
With Cinequest in San Jose and then WrestleMania 31 at Levi’s Stadium coming to the South Bay in March, VTA appears to have a lot of work to do in order to move large crowds to and from these events. One possible way to do that: purchase or lease additional buses to supplement crowded light rail trains. (More on this in a future post.)
To some of its credit, VTA warned riders to expect higher-than-usual crowds on light rail for the Stadium Series game. Given an entire professional football season of ten San Francisco 49ers games, plus a college football bowl game, there is simply no excuse for VTA to have poor preparation for the Stadium Series game.
What Can I Do To Ensure VTA Plans Better For Large Crowds?
Caught up in the chaos that was VTA light rail from the Stadium Series game? contact VTA Customer Service about it all today. Also, contact the people at VTA (who work for YOU) below.
Who’s Responsible For VTA Buses and Light Rail at Levi’s Stadium?
- Nuria L. Feranndez, VTA General Manager/Chief Executive Officer. Email: general.manager@vta.org phone (408)321-5559
- Mike Hursh, VTA Chief Operating Officer. Email: michael.hursh@vta.org (408)321-5680
What else do you think VTA needs to do to prepare for large crowds at events? Please comment in the Comments section below.
Let’s all make the time – not excuses – to ensure traffic and transit issues are done RIGHT for future Levi’s Stadium events. Doing nothing ensures nothing changes for the better. We are all in this together.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users