A prolonged strike would have repercussions beyond complicating commutes: New Jersey Transit also shuttles fans to concerts and sporting events at the Prudential Center in Newark and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Among the first casualties of the looming strike were the trains and buses the agency had planned to provide for access to Shakira’s concerts at MetLife on Thursday and Friday nights. It announced days before the strike deadline that it would cancel service to the concert on both nights.
Beyoncé is scheduled to perform five times at MetLife over the next two weeks, raising fears among some concertgoers that they would encounter gridlock and frustrating delays, or perhaps be unable to get to the stadium at all.
But the BeyHive may not have cause for concern: Many fans trying to get in and out of MetLife for Shakira’s sold-out show on Thursday night were met with an efficient bus experience. Coach USA is providing service between the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and the stadium for Shakira’s concerts, with service beginning at 4 p.m. Return trips begin at 10:45 p.m.
Round-trip tickets cost $25, and reservations are required. A similar schedule is planned for Beyoncé’s shows.
On Thursday, concertgoers arriving at Port Authority were directed to its 42nd Street entrance, where they were quickly moved through a queue and received a wristband for their return trips. The total travel time for one New York Times reporter, from the bus terminal to the security gate at MetLife, was 50 minutes, and she arrived at the concert around 7 p.m.
Other options to get to the stadium include driving or ride-share services. Traffic was heavy Thursday night, and some fans in cars were dropped off at the highway exit outside the arena and had to walk the rest of the way.
As Shakira began to move into her final set of songs, with hits like “Whenever, Wherever” and “Waka Waka,” the first group of bus travelers made its way out of the stadium. Some fans began to sprint toward the bus, worried they would miss their reserved 10:45 p.m. trip. But more than a dozen buses were waiting to bring them back to New York.
Remy Tumin is a reporter for The Times covering breaking news and other topics.
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