Author Topic: Nationals Games & Metro  (Read 4218 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Mathguy

  • Posts: 9162
  • Floyd - Truely Man's best Friend
    • Outer Banks Beach House
Nationals Games & Metro
« Topic Start: August 23, 2012, 05:15:45 PM »
The Washington Nationals have asked Washington DC to pay for extended hours for metro during the NL playoffs & World Series.  This is in response to last Monday night (8/20) when a rain delay and extra innings kept the game going past midnight.

But the Washington Capitals pay for extended hours when hockey games are late.  This could be interesting.

The Nationals are also asking for extra police protection from the city during the NL playoffs and Worls Series


Offline welch

  • Posts: 16289
  • The Sweetest Right Handed Swing in 1950s Baseball
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #2: August 23, 2012, 05:25:37 PM »
Maybe the Metro ought to run 24 hours a day all year?

Offline HalfSmokes

  • Posts: 21606
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #3: August 23, 2012, 05:28:29 PM »
Maybe the Metro ought to run 24 hours a day all year?

what do you think this is philly?

http://www.ridepatco.org/schedules/schedules.asp

Offline welch

  • Posts: 16289
  • The Sweetest Right Handed Swing in 1950s Baseball
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #4: August 23, 2012, 06:17:08 PM »
what do you think this is philly?

http://www.ridepatco.org/schedules/schedules.asp

I was thinking about NYC...and remembering that DC Transit ran its buses all night...before becoming MetroBus. Maybe once an hour, but I once took either the F-4 or F-6 from Lewisdale to downtown about 3am one Saturday night / Sunday morning in the summer of 1966.  Can't remember why...

Offline heeman82

  • Posts: 3358
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #5: August 23, 2012, 06:47:13 PM »
I had never left a Nats game early until Monday night.

Offline mitlen

  • Posts: 66171
  • We had 'em all the way.
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #6: August 23, 2012, 06:59:38 PM »
Maybe the Metro ought to run 24 hours a day all year?

what do you think this is philly?

http://www.ridepatco.org/schedules/schedules.asp

...  or NYC ...  or London  ...  or Moscow   ...  or Paris?    What the hell do you think this is?   The capital?

Offline RobDibblesGhost

  • Posts: 31426
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #7: August 23, 2012, 07:55:12 PM »
I've felt for a long time that if the playoffs come to DC then the Lerners need to be ready to fork over a check to WMATA to keep Metro running late.  Night playoff games typically don't start until after 8:00 for national TV purposes, so you've got to plan on keeping Metro open at least an extra hour.  I've refrained from taking sides on the LAC/LANC debate, but they are too damned cheap to spend (for them) a relatively small amount of money to accommodate THEIR fans, then I know which side I'm taking.  Do the right thing, Ted and Mark.


Offline RobDibblesGhost

  • Posts: 31426
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #8: August 23, 2012, 07:56:36 PM »
I was thinking about NYC...and remembering that DC Transit ran its buses all night...before becoming MetroBus. Maybe once an hour, but I once took either the F-4 or F-6 from Lewisdale to downtown about 3am one Saturday night / Sunday morning in the summer of 1966.  Can't remember why...

I do believe some current MetroBus routes run 24 hours.  Not any help to most people going to Nats games though :)

Offline CALSGR8

  • Posts: 11609
  • BE LOUD. BE PROUD. BE POSITIVE!
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #9: August 23, 2012, 10:47:29 PM »
My comment on the Bog:

"might benefit an extremely small number of people."? From what I see coming and going from the subway station, SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE IS AN INCORRECT ASSUMPTION.
 
Do a little research and plan accordingly. Do I need to tell the Lerners and Mr. Pfeffer how to do research. 
 
Pass out a survey and find out how many of your fan base uses Metro on Weekdays and Weekends to attend the ballgame. Do they use Metro 100% of the time like I do? 
 
How many times a year has there been a LATE GAME on a Weeknight (Sunday through Thursday)? That is the only time Metro closes at Midnight!
 
This is baseball. Statistics are kept on everything from Time of game to attendance. 
 
I think you'll find that the majority of your fans take Metro and the number of times a year that a game is late on a weekday is very few! 
 
However now the Postseason is upon us. Games won't even START before 8:00pm - 8:30. You want to cut off your nose to spite your face and having fans leave before the game is over? Is that any way to win fans? Is that any way to try to sell 2013 tickets?! The Lerners got dough. For the enjoyment of the games and good ownership-fan relationships; make a plan to have Metro open late

Offline welch

  • Posts: 16289
  • The Sweetest Right Handed Swing in 1950s Baseball
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #10: August 23, 2012, 11:14:13 PM »
Plus...it seems to me that the Metro is the only way to get a full crowd into and out of a game. Cars carry let's guess two people. If 15,000 people travel by car, that's an extra 7500 cars going to and from a single spot. All need parking.

More: I took the Metro to Navy Yard the last two games we saw. Before the game, a near sellout against the Braves, the crowd streaming up the escalator jammed against the crowd trying to get out the station doors. People were coming off the top of the escalator faster than the crowd got out of the station. It was only luck that someone didn't fall backward from the top of thje escalator, carrying everyone back on top of people riding up.

The station needs wider doors, more escalators, maybe even some wide stairways.

The baseball crowds won;t get smaller, and Metro is the best way to and from Nats Park.

Offline comish4lif

  • Posts: 2934
  • Too Stressed to care.
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #11: August 23, 2012, 11:28:31 PM »
My comment on the Bog:

"might benefit an extremely small number of people."? From what I see coming and going from the subway station, SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE IS AN INCORRECT ASSUMPTION.
 
Do a little research and plan accordingly. Do I need to tell the Lerners and Mr. Pfeffer how to do research. 
 
Pass out a survey and find out how many of your fan base uses Metro on Weekdays and Weekends to attend the ballgame. Do they use Metro 100% of the time like I do? 
 
How many times a year has there been a LATE GAME on a Weeknight (Sunday through Thursday)? That is the only time Metro closes at Midnight!
 
This is baseball. Statistics are kept on everything from Time of game to attendance. 
 
I think you'll find that the majority of your fans take Metro and the number of times a year that a game is late on a weekday is very few! 
 
However now the Postseason is upon us. Games won't even START before 8:00pm - 8:30. You want to cut off your nose to spite your face and having fans leave before the game is over? Is that any way to win fans? Is that any way to try to sell 2013 tickets?! The Lerners got dough. For the enjoyment of the games and good ownership-fan relationships; make a plan to have Metro open late
They don't need a survey. Metro knows who gets in the system, when they got in, and where they get off. The need a data geek.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17647
  • babble on
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #12: August 23, 2012, 11:34:34 PM »
Does the circulator run all night?  At least one can get to Union Station then.  If you can't get home, you can at least catch the 2 am to Montreal.

I do believe some current MetroBus routes run 24 hours.  Not any help to most people going to Nats games though :)


Offline Clever

  • Posts: 2342
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #13: August 23, 2012, 11:55:34 PM »
Does the circulator run all night?  At least one can get to Union Station then.  If you can't get home, you can at least catch the 2 am to Montreal.
I could catch an Amtrak to New Carrollton then hop on a G bus home. That would only take me 3 times as long and 5 times as expensive than driving!

Offline Evolution33

  • Posts: 5093
    • Blown Save, Win
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #14: August 24, 2012, 12:06:25 AM »
The Nationals are the only team who are basically going to be charged a $300,000.00 tax for making the playoffs. Figure that because there are 11 possible home playoff games and maybe half of those will be weekday night games, and I can't remember a playoff baseball game ending before midnight in a long time so will need two hours per game. Every other mass transit system has their top priority being to get people home safely. Part of this money should be competitive balance money as having to pay an extra $300,000.00 from the budget is a competitive imbalance. DC, the Nationals, MLB, and Metro all stand to make money from October baseball in DC and they should all share the cost of making sure every single person that comes to those games can get home safely.

Offline Hogie

  • Posts: 567
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #15: August 24, 2012, 01:10:51 AM »
Sometimes you just have to pay to eliminate any potential for a complete PR nightmare.

Offline welch

  • Posts: 16289
  • The Sweetest Right Handed Swing in 1950s Baseball
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #16: August 24, 2012, 07:13:28 AM »
Sometimes you just have to pay to eliminate any potential for a complete PR nightmare.

+1
So clear that it's a wonder they haven't already accepted the fact.

Offline comish4lif

  • Posts: 2934
  • Too Stressed to care.
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #17: August 24, 2012, 07:32:33 AM »
How much would it cost for the Nats to rent a dozen or so buses and bring folks back to their Metro stops?

Offline Mathguy

  • Posts: 9162
  • Floyd - Truely Man's best Friend
    • Outer Banks Beach House
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #18: August 24, 2012, 08:05:53 AM »
Let's say each bus can hold 80 passengers.  I don't think a dozen buses would be enough.  I would guess 100 would be closer.  And that's only 8000 fans.  So buses may not be economical.

How much would it cost for the Nats to rent a dozen or so buses and bring folks back to their Metro stops?


Offline JCA-CrystalCity

  • Global Moderator
  • ****
  • Posts: 39378
  • Platoon - not just a movie, a baseball obsession
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #19: August 24, 2012, 08:25:19 AM »
I find it hard to believe that Metro does not make the $29K back from riders after midnight.  It's only 1500 riders at $2.10, and if you are talking Silver Spring, Bethesda, King Street, and Ballston, and further out, then it is an even higher fare.

This really sounds like an opportunity for Ballpark Bus.  hope those guys make a killing.

Offline OldChelsea

  • Posts: 8160
  • Nats Supporter in Exile
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #20: August 24, 2012, 08:27:57 AM »
+1
So clear that it's a wonder they haven't already accepted the fact.

They won't accept it because, like Snyder when the Metrobus shuttle to FedEx was terminated in 2008, they've got visions of parking passes dancing in their heads.

Offline Sharp

  • Posts: 3582
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #21: August 24, 2012, 08:33:06 AM »
Nats Park does not, realistically, have enough parking to handle sellouts.  I know this from personal experience.  Furthermore, the traffic is so terrible and most of their lots far enough away that if you do go by car you have to allocate basically an extra hour of time before each game.  This is something the Lerners are going to have to deal with sooner or later if they want people to keep coming to the park.  And the best way to do it is to alleviate the pressure by making the metro a viable alternative for people who like to stay to games until the end.

Offline HalfSmokes

  • Posts: 21606
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #22: August 24, 2012, 08:51:27 AM »
The Nationals are the only team who are basically going to be charged a $300,000.00 tax for making the playoffs. Figure that because there are 11 possible home playoff games and maybe half of those will be weekday night games, and I can't remember a playoff baseball game ending before midnight in a long time so will need two hours per game. Every other mass transit system has their top priority being to get people home safely. Part of this money should be competitive balance money as having to pay an extra $300,000.00 from the budget is a competitive imbalance. DC, the Nationals, MLB, and Metro all stand to make money from October baseball in DC and they should all share the cost of making sure every single person that comes to those games can get home safely.

every other team in DC pays for the same service as do event organizers who want to keep metro open- why should baseball get special treatment?

I find it hard to believe that Metro does not make the $29K back from riders after midnight.  It's only 1500 riders at $2.10, and if you are talking Silver Spring, Bethesda, King Street, and Ballston, and further out, then it is an even higher fare.

This really sounds like an opportunity for Ballpark Bus.  hope those guys make a killing.

1) it costs metro more than the $30,000 they charge and 2) fare money is first used to refund the fee

Offline tomterp

  • Global Moderator
  • ****
  • Posts: 33783
  • Hell yes!
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #23: August 24, 2012, 08:58:31 AM »
every other team in DC pays for the same service as do event organizers who want to keep metro open- why should baseball get special treatment?

1) it costs metro more than the $30,000 they charge and 2) fare money is first used to refund the fee

Well, to an extent the DC government has a greater economic interest in the success of the Nats, through the 10% tax on concessions and tickets, as well as the whole real estate tax base in the immediate area.   Sometimes you spend money to make money.

Offline HalfSmokes

  • Posts: 21606
Re: Nationals Games & Metro
« Reply #24: August 24, 2012, 09:01:04 AM »
metro isn't the dc government though- MD and VA have no vested interest in the Nats and it's probably in their interest for the area to stay underdeveloped to the extent development poaches residents and employers