Now that the first official weekend in Nationals Park and the first Curly W are both in the books, it’s time to take a look at the widely publicized transit options. Before I begin to review the options, there are a few key points that we feel are crucial to the transit issue. One issue is the fact that the Nationals have extensively advertised both the Metro and the Nats Express, while the front office has enthusiastically endorsed these options. We can appreciate the fact that Stan Kasten took a test run of the Metro a few weeks ago, however his experience was nothing compared to the real deal on game nights. From experience, we know that cramming onto a train with thousands of other fans after sitting through a three hour game in the middle of July is not exactly pleasant night after night. Transportation to and from games is a huge issue for the fan base, especially when most of us are coming in from the suburbs and it takes over an hour each way.

On Saturday, I chose to try out the Metro. Everyone on the train understood that between the game, Cherry Blossoms and a marathon, the stations were busy. When we finally arrived at Navy Yard, I was really looking forward to seeing the new platform. Unfortunately, the fact that there were only 2 escalators that were 2 people wide was a disappointment. I expected there to be more escalators, or at least wider in order to accommodate the large crowds after games. Stadium Armory was much better in this respect. On a positive note, there were “SmartTrip Express” lanes that will certainly help move people along. Also, once we were able to weed through the crowds and come up to ground level, we were treated to view of the beautiful stadium directly in front of us.

For Sunday’s game, I opted to join Stephanie and Kristen on the Nats Express. We really appreciate the effort to provide fans a free alternative to get to the games. We were able to get on a bus quickly and the ride was around 5 minutes. Overall, transit to the game has been smooth, although it would be nice if we were able to get dropped off a little closer to the park.  After the amazing game, we were greeted by a long, unorganized line for the bus and we were given conflicting information about where to wait for a bus. One worker lined us up around the corner from the rest of the crowd, then put us in line with everyone else, took us back around the corner and finally we were again sent to stand in line with everyone else. While we waited, we only saw a maximum of 5 buses, which would mean that 45 should have been in transit and at RFK. The chaos at the pick up spot was created in part by the fact that fans and workers were both yelling which upped everyone’s tension levels. At one point there were three buses and people were loading whichever bus was closest rather than moving up to fill the front bus first. It would have made more sense and created less chaos, if one bus had to be full before another bus could board people. While this wouldn’t necessarily work in the immediate rush after a game, it would help organize the rest of the fans who leave 15-20 minutes after the last out.

Also contributing to the chaos were a few fans who had a bit too much to drink. Yes, it’s fun to have a couple of beers at the game but there is a point at which it is obnoxious. We encountered some of these people in line, which makes the whole experience for families and non-drinkers less than pleasant.  Once we were on board we only counted 20 buses from the pick up location into the RFK lot. Most of the buses that we counted were stuck in the line of cars waiting to exit the lot. Because the exit lane is so narrow, as one bus is entering RFK, all of the oncoming traffic had to be stopped, thus creating a huge delay in the shuttle system. A separate lane for buses would surely alleviate the congestion. It doesn’t do any good to have these buses if they are stuck in a traffic jam at RFK.

Finally, I do have a few concerns about the RFK lot. It is dimly lit, which does raise some security concerns. The lighting also contributed to the free-for-all that took place as cars left because it was difficult to see where we were actually supposed to be exiting.  Overall, we understand that there are going to be hiccups in the system and this was a near sell-out crowd in attendance. As many have pointed out, the real test will come next Monday when Nats fans have to get to the game during rush-hour traffic. While we will deal with not really being able to park at the stadium and appreciate the free shuttle option, fans shouldn’t be fooled - parking in RFK last year was worlds better than dealing with the crowded metro or a shuttle system.

Unfortunately, there is some sad news to report. Elliot Yamin, who was scheduled to sing “God Bless America” Sunday night, lost his mother today. Our thoughts go out to him and his family.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 9:54 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous, New Nationals Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.