The NY Post, 12/12/05: Nets Train Hard

Why can't the Yankees do this? If they did they wouldn't have to
build those new parking garages, which means the parks wouldn't get destroyed.

This kind of stuff just makes too much sense!

Click the title to read the article at The Post's website, or continue reading below...

NETS TRAIN HARD

By RICH CALDER

December 12, 2005 -- The Nets want to offer fans at their planned Brooklyn arena a real ticket to ride. Team officials hope to work with the MTA in devising either a swipeable game ticket or a game-day MetroCard to encourage fans to ride instead of drive to their new home, sources told The Post.

That's one of the ideas being bounced around by team brass and transit experts as New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner tries to quell community concern over the traffic nightmare his proposed 19,000-seat NBA arena and residential/retail complex might mean for the borough's downtown.

Ratner plans to move the team to Brooklyn for the 2008-'09 season.

The developer is considering hiring Gameday Management Group, a well-known transportation management firm that specializes in getting fans to A-list events like the Super Bowl gridlock-free.

"We want to make sure traffic flows as smoothly as possible, and they're highly respected," said Joe DePlasco, a Ratner spokesman.

Gameday was recently hired as a consultant for the proposed 80,000-seat NASCAR racetrack on Staten Island, where the company would require spectators to choose their transportation method when purchasing tickets through an easy-to-follow Internet registration system.

Fans can drive to one of 8,400 parking spots, but most would take a chartered bus or ferry from New Jersey or Manhattan. Those who don't follow the rules won't get in.

But Gameday officials told The Post that controlling how fans get to the Brooklyn arena — planned for the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues — might not be feasible since, unlike the Staten Island raceway, it would be built in the heart of a mass transit hub.

One of the ideas being floated to ease transit problems associated with the planned Brooklyn arena includes teaming with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to have season ticket holders purchase special game-day MetroCards — or having tickets embedded with MetroCard technology.

rich.calder@nypost.com