Citi Field Transit Access + Service Improvements

Citi Field stadium — Credit: Groupe Canam (license)

Sam Schwartz was retained by the New York Mets to provide transportation planning and traffic engineering services for the new Citi Field Stadium. To compensate for a loss of 2,100 parking spaces during construction, the client originally sought temporary remote lots with free shuttles. Instead, Sam Schwartz developed a strategy to accommodate drivers and passengers displaced by the loss of parking by increasing their usage of the existing subway and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) lines adjacent to the stadium.

To encourage arrivals via subway, Sam Schwartz designed a new, faster express service—unlike anything operated in the previous 45 years—that was tested, accepted, and implemented in under three months. LIRR improvements, including additional trains and schedule coordination with eight other routes, were also implemented. At both the subway and LIRR stations, Sam Schwartz’s design interventions ensured comfortable accommodation of the increased foot traffic.

Sam Schwartz’s plan reduced subway travel time by 27%, eliminated station congestion, and carried more people with fewer trains, lowering the cost of operation. This comprehensive program to improve service, coupled with a vigorous marketing effort, reduced automobile use by more than 2,100 cars, and increased transit usage to 45%—a level more than double that of any point in the history of the stadium.

Although stadium construction is complete, NYC Transit has retained Sam Schwartz’s operating plan as the permanent service.

Markets / Sports + Venues