Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is "already planning upgrades it hopes will quicken trips for mega-sized events" such as Super Bowl 50 after being "overwhelmed by an unexpected flood of transit riders" for the Kings-Sharks NHL Stadium Series game at Levi's Stadium on Saturday, according to Mike Rosenberg of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. However, "smoothing out the transit bumps may prove more difficult for special events than it was for 49ers games." As a result of a record 16,000 attendees taking transit -- twice the normal Levi's Stadium total for 49ers games -- some fans "missed part of the pre-game festivities as packed trains passed them on the way." After the game, it took "as much as two hours to get home on light rail even as drivers zoomed quickly onto the freeway." The NHL game "was a reversal from the 49ers season, with football fans used to gridlocked postgame vehicle traffic and generally smooth" VTA light rail service, which "improved during the season after some early hiccups." VTA for future events hopes to "get postgame waits back down to an hour at most, as it was during the 49ers season," and consequently "will likely add new buses to be on standby to carry riders along the light rail routes." VTA officials said that they were "completely surprised by the larger crowds for the Sharks game, and that it will be difficult to make huge improvements because it has already maxed-out light rail service." They also are going to "work with event promoters to get the word out about how to use VTA so thousands of largely newbie riders don't exit the wrong stadium gate or get in the wrong train line, worsening wait times" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/24).
I'LL BE BACK: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he "absolutely" envisions the league returning to California for a future outdoor game. Bettman: "It's been great. We couldn't have asked for a better time, whether it was last year at Dodger Stadium or here at Levi's." But he added that he does not "expect it to happen for at least a few more years." Bettman: "The soon part I don't know the answer to, because the outdoor games remain in such demand." He said of Levi's, "This stadium is state-of-the-art, first class. And, I think this community that can be proud of what the 49ers have added to it with this spectacular facility" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 2/23). The S.F. Chronicle’s Scott Ostler said Kings-Sharks attracted new fans because “you pack 60,000 people in there and you have a ton more watching." He added, "You don't convert every single person that was new to that game or anything but a lot of them you do you." CSN Bay Area’s Jim Kozimor: "It was an awesome sight if you sat there to see 70,000" ("Yahoo Sports Talk Live," CSN Bay Area, 2/24).
