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Encouraging Alternative Transportation to the Proposed Minnesota United

Football Club Stadium In Saint Paul, Minnesota

Executive Summary

The Minnesota United Football Club (Minnesota United FC) is proposing a new stadium located on Snelling Avenue and St. Anthony Avenue. One concern in the surrounding communities is the amount of traffic that the stadium will bring to the area, with up to 20,000 fans visiting the stadium on game days. This report provides key recommendations for the Minnesota United FC, the City of Saint Paul, Metro Transit, and other relevant stakeholders on how to effectively and safely encourage alternative modes of transportation. Implementing these recommendations will enhance the transportation experiences of fans on game days and minimize disturbances to the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium. This report includes five main recommendations: 1) Public transit incentives and discounts: Case studies of other stadiums

illuminate best practices to encourage and incentivize alternative modes of transportation, including free or discounted Metro Transit passes that are offered with the purchase of Minnesota United FC tickets.

2) Marketing and coordination: Transportation options and online trip planning tools should be made available to fans through several relevant sources.

3) Secure bike parking and bike routes: Safe bike lanes and paths should be created, bike rentals should be encouraged, and secure bike parking should be provided.

4) Vehicle parking: Local businesses should be approached and encouraged to develop shared parking arrangements; park-‐and-‐ride, ride-‐share, and pay-‐ahead-‐for-‐parking programs should be developed; permit parking should be implemented in adjacent neighborhoods.

5) Comprehensive transit planning and management: A safe and spacious area

for Green Line riders to await the train should be created; events near the stadium should be scheduled to stagger when fans leave the Midway area.

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Introduction

We are a team of graduate students from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the Mondale School of Law at University of Minnesota, working through Common Grounds, an “interdisciplinary student-‐led graduate student team that applies the concept of integrative leadership to community challenges.”1 We have prepared this report based on the needs and interests of the Union Park District Council, an independent nonprofit that engages the power of the community to advance neighborhood vitality and develop neighborhood leadership. Our analysis focuses on steps that can be taken by relevant stakeholders to minimize the impact of automobile traffic on neighborhoods surrounding the proposed United FC stadium in Saint Paul during home games.

Background The Minnesota United Football Club (Minnesota United FC) has been working with Midway Shopping Center’s owner, RK Midway, to develop a 34.4-‐acre site plan for a soccer stadium and the surrounding area (see Figures 1 and 2). This proposed stadium would be surrounded by an “urban village,” including residential uses, office spaces, retail, a hotel, entertainment venues (such as a fitness club, a movie theater and a skating rink), and open spaces. The proposed Minnesota United FC soccer stadium will seat 20,000 fans and will be located on the south end of the parcel on St. Anthony Avenue between Snelling Avenue and Pascal Street. At present, the Minnesota United FC plays its games at the Blaine Soccer Complex. The current stadium has capacity for 8,000 attendees, and games consistently sell out. The Blaine Soccer Complex is in a location with no public transit access, so all fans arrive via cars or charter busses. Given the team’s success at filling their current facility in a Tier 3 suburb, the Minnesota United FC are confident that they will be able to sell out games in the Midway. About 10,000 fans will need to arrive to the stadium via alternative modes of transportation in order to achieve the United FC’s goal of 50% of attendees arriving via public transit, bike, or walking. The Minnesota United FC is preparing a site plan for this new stadium, and the city has commissioned a transportation study for the site to assess, in part, how much parking the stadium will require. However, the club’s proposed plan has drawn some concerns, particularly about parking and traffic in the area, among members of the Snelling-‐Midway Community Advisory Committee and the neighboring communities. According to data provided by the City of Saint Paul, the current average daily traffic volume on Snelling Avenue is 35,000 vehicles; on University Avenue it is 24,000 vehicles.2 Vehicles driving to and from the stadium would exacerbate traffic in this already busy area. Public transportation can mitigate some concerns about stadium traffic. Projected light rail transit (LRT) ridership is 2,900 individuals boarding at the Snelling station and 41,000 daily Green Line riders (by 2030).3 Metro Transit will introduce arterial bus rapid transit (BRT) along Snelling in June 2016, which is a package of transit enhancements that adds up to a faster trip and an improved experience. With these

1 http://www.leadership.umn.edu/student_initiatives/common_grounds/ 2 https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-‐economic-‐development/planning/snelling-‐midway-‐2 https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-‐economic-‐development/planning/snelling-‐midway-‐redevelopment-‐site 3 https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-‐economic-‐development/planning/snelling-‐midway-‐redevelopment-‐site

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nearby public transit amenities, it is hoped that 50 percent of fans coming to the stadium will take public transit, bike, or walk. Figure 1: Map of the proposed site plan and a new stadium

Source: The Union Park District Council, 2016 (http://www.unionparkdc.org/news-‐and-‐events/soccer-‐stadium-‐updates-‐draft-‐midway-‐site-‐plan-‐revealed)

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Figure 2: Location of a proposed site and public transit & pedestrian entries

Source: Peter Callaghan, MINNPOST, January 2016 (https://www.minnpost.com/politics-‐policy/2016/01/midway-‐soccer-‐stadium-‐site-‐could-‐provide-‐plenty-‐transit-‐options-‐and-‐plenty-‐h) Figures 3: Current transportation options at proposed site

Source: Peter Callaghan, MINNPOST, January 2016 (https://www.minnpost.com/politics-‐policy/2016/01/midway-‐soccer-‐stadium-‐site-‐could-‐provide-‐plenty-‐transit-‐options-‐and-‐plenty-‐h)

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Methodology This report is based on research, analysis and interviews with key stakeholders, including the Minnesota United FC, Metro Transit, Saint Paul Bike Coalition, City of Saint Paul and Greenway Coalition. We have documented best practices for transportation policy around stadiums in cities with population sizes similar to that of Saint Paul and in cities with large Major League Soccer fan bases. We examined local examples, such as CHS Field in Saint Paul, TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, as well as stadiums in Seattle, Ottawa, Portland, Los Angeles, and the Netherlands. The following sections provide a summary of best transportation practices and outline how these best practices can be applied to the Minnesota United FC stadium.

Stadium Case Studies Local Stadiums TCF Stadium, Home of University of Minnesota Gophers and temporarily the Minnesota Vikings (Minneapolis, Minnesota): ● TCF Stadium has a capacity of 50,800 people. At present Metro Transit estimates

that 7,000 people attending Vikings Games at TCF Bank stadium arrive via bus or rail. Consequently, Metro Transit has considerable experience accommodating large crowds on the Green Line.

● TCF stadium has a comprehensive parking and traffic plan that details parking and traffic policies and considerations for game days. Parking and Transportation Services and other University departments developed the plan with local and state transportation officials.4

● For games at TCF stadium, Metro Transit has increased the platform capacity by closing a lane on 23rd Avenue to create additional standing space.

● The University of Minnesota, Metro Transit, athletic teams, and news outlets provide comprehensive transportation information for fans.5

CHS Field, Home of the Saint Paul Saints (Saint Paul, Minnesota): ● CHS Field can seat 7,200 fans. Metro Transit provides free transit passes for

Saints games (but it is unclear how these are funded). ● Metro Transit, the stadium, and the Saint Paul Saints provide comprehensive

transportation information for fans.

4 Source: https://pts.umn.edu/park/gopherfb.html 5 Sources: https://pts.umn.edu/park/gopherfb.html, https://www1.umn.edu/pts/park/vikingsfb.html, http://www1.umn.edu/pts/park/gopherfb.html, https://pts.umn.edu/park/gopherfb.html, http://www.vikings.com/stadium/u-‐of-‐m/ride.html, http://www.metrotransit.org/getting-‐to-‐the-‐game-‐and-‐more-‐on-‐the-‐green-‐line, http://www.startribune.com/your-‐guide-‐to-‐getting-‐to-‐tcf-‐bank-‐stadium-‐for-‐vikes-‐gophers/328080101/, http://legacy.kare11.com/story/sports/nfl/vikings/2014/08/07/vikings-‐games-‐tcf-‐stadium/13732297/

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U.S. and International Stadiums CenturyLink Field, Home of the Seattle Sounders (Seattle, Washington): ● CenturyLink Field seats 38,000 fans for MLS games. ● Transportation options are listed on both the stadium and the team websites

along with links directly to the public transportation trip planner websites. ● The parking complex that Seattle uses for its stadium is shared with a nearby

theater. ● The Seattle Sounders have a designated driver program that promotes

carpooling and safety. In this program, fans who plan to stay sober sign a “pledge card” at the guest services booth.

Providence Park, Home of the Portland Timbers (Portland, Oregon): ● Providence Park seats 22,000 fans. ● Transportation options are listed on both the stadium and the team websites

along with links directly to the public transportation trip planner websites. ● Similarly, Portland’s TriMet transit organization has a dedicated webpage for

attendees to plan their travel to and from Timbers games in Providence Park. ● Providence Park provides 400 temporary parking spots for bicycles on game

days. The spots, which are overseen by security staff, are set up three hours before the game and dismantled one hour after the game. Of these parking spots, 250 are reserved for season ticket holders.

● To discourage parking, Portland has limited parking in the area around the stadium and will issue $60 citations for cars parked for more than 90 minutes on game days.

● Starting this past fall, the Portland Timbers partnered with Uber to provide transportation to the stadium. Fans can use a Timbers-‐branded slider within the Uber app to request a ride straight to the stadium. Some of the cars contain Timbers merchandise fans can win. Additionally, the Timbers Community Fund receives a $5 donation for every person who uses a Timbers-‐specific promotional code.

TD Place, Home of the Ottawa Fury (Ottawa, Canada): ● TD Place seats 24,000 fans. ● TD Place provides free access to OC Transpo public transit for three hours

before and after events, including Ottawa Fury games. Fans receive free transportation passes through the purchase of their Ottawa Fury game ticket. The tickets also give fans access to a park and shuttle program.

● Transportation options are listed on both the stadium and the team websites along with links directly to the public transportation trip planner websites.

USC Coliseum, Home of the USC Trojans football team (Los Angeles, California): ● The Coliseum has a seating capacity of about 93,000. ● At the Coliseum, the train platform is adjacent to a local park, and the park

provides a natural overflow area for fans awaiting the train. ● LA uses additional resources to facilitate ticketing and boarding processes on

game days. It makes use of mobile ticket dispensers, which allow it to easily ticket additional passengers at the site without fear that the existing infrastructure will fail to accommodate the surge in ridership.

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The Feijenoord "De Kuip" Stadium, Home of the Feyenoord Rotterdam soccer team (Rotterdam, the Netherlands): ● Trains take fans from the airport to the stadium. During large events, trains are

equipped with police officers to ensure safety. ● On game days, there are extra trains that stop at a station close to the stadium

that is only in use on game days. There are also extra busses that bring fans to the stadium on game days.

● On the soccer club’s website, fans can learn how best to reach the stadium.

Recommendations

1. Provide Public Transit Incentives and Discounts

● The Minnesota United FC can purchase Metro Transit tickets in bulk and distribute them to fans. Metro Transit sources we spoke to pointed out that Metro Transit had previously sold large lots of tickets to the Twins at a discounted price to facilitate packaging Twins tickets with transit passes. They were open to the possibility of discounting transit passes to sell them in bulk to the team for distribution to fans. Negotiating such an arrangement would provide a win-‐win by ensuring both that Metro Transit sells tickets and Minnesota United FC is able to minimize stress on local parking and maintain positive relationships with the surrounding neighborhoods.

● Transit passes can be co-‐sold with Minnesota United FC tickets that are sold in advance. Season ticket holders and single-‐game ticket purchasers could automatically receive a transit pass or an option for a daylong transit pass at a discounted price. Bundling transit passes with United tickets would help elevate use of public transit. Metro Transit has previously used such practices with the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota United FC personnel we spoke to were open to the possibility of facilitating some sort of joint purchase of transit passes and Minnesota United FC tickets.

● Metro Transit can provide print-‐ahead transit tickets for Minnesota United FC game days. Metro Transit already provides print-‐ahead tickets for Minnesota Vikings game days, and individuals at Metro Transit who spoke with our team expressed confidence that they can find such opportunities with the United as well. Metro Transit is also in the process of developing a ticketing app that will allow transit users to buy bus and light rail passes from their phones, which would minimize the strain on physical ticket dispensers on the busses and at the Snelling and University Light Rail Train RT and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) platforms.

2. Marketing and Coordination

● Develop a united message about the importance of public transit: Metro Transit and Minnesota United FC should emphasize public transit in online and printed materials related to the stadium. Other highly urban stadiums including the Providence Park and Wrigley Field emphasize the limitations and cost of parking while encouraging fans to use public transit (see Appendix). The Minnesota United FC should encourage fans to use public transit and provide direct links online to Metro Transit’s website and trip planning tool.

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● Develop transit directions on Metro Transit’s web page specific to Minnesota United FC: To help maximize public transportation, Metro Transit should maintain stadium-‐specific transit instructions that highlight the modes of public transit fans can use to games. This is a practice that we saw in play in several stadiums. Metro Transit already maintains such a page for events at TCF Bank stadium, so it would be sensible to extend this practice to include the Minnesota United FC stadium.

● Transportation information for fans should be made available from several sources: These sources can include Metro Transit, news outlets (such as online newspapers and news stations), the team’s website, the stadium’s website, and the Union Park’s website. Websites should include maps and trip planning tools so that fans can easily plan their route via public transit or bicycle. Fans should receive information on transportation options and maps with the purchase of their tickets.

● The Minnesota United FC stadium should have detailed comprehensive parking and traffic plan: This plan should include signage to direct traffic and pedestrians, stoplight timing to favor stadium traffic, crossing guards, electronic message signs for drivers, a traffic management monitoring system, parking restrictions, streets closed to accommodate pedestrians, official recommendations for fans, and ADA accessible options.

3. Secure bike parking and bike routes

● Create secure bike lanes: Minnesota United FC games present a unique opportunity for large numbers of attendees to arrive via bicycle. Major League Soccer’s primary target audience is Millennials, who are more likely than older demographics to bike and who may be more easily convinced to bike to games. There are not currently bike-‐friendly ways for most fans to arrive to the stadium. Pascal Street is a designated bike route running north/south near the stadium, and features painted bike lanes north of University Avenue. However, as Figure 5 illustrates, there are no painted lanes between University and Marshall Avenue, which many bike commuters would use to get to the area. Cyclists moving east on Marshall must make a turn from the far right lanes across traffic to reach Pascal Street, as highlighted in Figure 4. The safety of the route can be improved with the addition of a crossing signal at Pascal and Marshall, and bike lanes on Pascal between University Avenue and Marshall Avenue. Protected bike lanes and flashing crossing lights, with bike sensors allowing cyclists to trigger them, would make the route safer for bikers.6

● Develop extensive secure bike parking at the stadium: Secure bike lots can be assembled, such as bike lots at the Minnesota State Fair and Providence Park in Portland. A secure bike lot could require each fan to bring their own bike lock or provide unique tickets to bikes and their owners (similar to a coat check).

● Use the stadium to catalyze larger bike infrastructure projects: The construction of the stadium at Midway provides a unique opportunity to

6 Bicyclists can trigger traffic lights on the University of Minnesota Transitway.

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motivate the construction of additional bike infrastructure in Saint Paul. The prospect of several hundred additional riders seeking to reach the Midway area from a variety of locations in Minneapolis and Saint Paul is a unique opportunity and has the potential to be utilized as a tool to catalyze the construction of infrastructure that will serve the stadium and the entire Midway area. For example, the Greenway could be extended across the Mississippi River, along a current railroad bridge. The bridge and both sides of the river at that point are in Hennepin County, so it would have to drive a deal to repurpose the bridge. Previous efforts at such a deal have foundered over questions of who will bear the cost for repairing the bridge to make it structurally sound and clean up the high levels of lead paint used on the bridge. Additional concerns over who will bear liability for the bridge going forward have also been at issue. As another example, bicyclists on Pascal coming from points further south are unable to cross Ayd Mill Road and the adjacent railroad tracks. A pedestrian/bike bridge there would greatly improve bike accessibility to the stadium.

● Encourage Bike Rentals: The Minnesota United FC can make space for Nice

Ride to rent out and return bikes at games. Figure 4: Marshall & Pascal Intersection Figure 5: Pascal south of I-‐94

4. Vehicle parking

● Proactively approach local businesses to develop shared parking

arrangements: An informal parking study led by Brian Quarstad found over 4,000 parking spaces in existing facilities within a half mile of the stadium. The challenge will be operationalizing the use of these lots on game days. Licensed private ramps such as those that exist at Spruce Tree Plaza, Health East, and Wilder Foundation already possess the necessary insurance to allow for a shared use agreement. When we spoke to the property manager at the Wilder Foundation she was quite interested in the possibility of generating additional revenue through the use of shared parking. However, it was also clear that the organization had minimal information about the stadium and that such information will be key to facilitating shared use agreements. Consequently, a key component to facilitating shared parking agreements will be reaching out to the owners of lots in the area and proactively working to answer their questions and work toward shared parking agreements.

● Develop and Promote Ride-‐Share Programs: The U.S. Department of Transportation recommends encouraging carpooling by giving discounted

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parking rates to cars with multiple ticketholders. Minnesota United FC should also reach out to taxi and ride-‐share companies about possible partnerships or promotional opportunities related to the new stadium.

● Provide access to parking information: It will be important for fans to easily

locate outlying lots where they can park. Minnesota United FC and the City of Saint Paul could direct stadium attendees to apps such as ParkMe to help them easily locate parking, and should provide parking information on their websites and on tickets. Given that fewer than half a dozen lots will comprise the majority of the shared parking available in the area, it would be possible for the team to provide detailed directions to these facilities in order to help arriving fans locate them.

● Create Permitted Parking in Affected Neighborhoods: To discourage parking, Portland has placed signs in the area around the stadium and will issue $60 citations for non-‐permitted cars parked for more than 90 minutes on game days (see Figure 6). Residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium are issued parking permits. The City of Saint Paul already makes use of permitted parking in 25 residential areas that have been identified as areas highly impacted by non-‐residential traffic flows, including neighborhoods close to the University of St. Thomas. Moving to permit parking in the neighborhoods most affected by game day traffic could be useful tool to limit the impact of game day traffic on the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the new stadium. Allowing parking for 90 minutes would discourage fans from parking in these areas while minimizing harm to local businesses.

Figure 6: Maps and Sign from Portland’s Restricted Parking

Sources: www.matinrealestategroup.com & www.oregonlive.com

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Figure 7: Current Restricted Parking Map

Source: https://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentCenter/View5/20789.pdf 5. Transit management

● Provide a safe space for green line riders to await the train: It will be

important to consider where a crowd of 2,000-‐3,000 or more people can comfortably stand while awaiting the Green Line after a game. Given that the RK Midway site will likely be redeveloped, it would be useful for developers and Metro Transit to coordinate their efforts to create a space that is functional on weekdays and can act as an overflow area on weekends.

● Create attractions to stagger when fans leave the Midway: Those we spoke with at Metro Transit did emphasize that ideally the crowd will be staggered in its arrival to the platform. This will require activities at the stadium or in the surrounding area that will retain fans in the area for varied lengths of time, be they specials at local restaurants, post-‐game shows at the field, or other attractions in the neighborhood.

Conclusion

Traffic is a concern of neighborhoods surrounding the proposed Minnesota United FC stadium. Local, national, and international stadiums provide examples of how to encourage alternative modes of transportation in ways that are safe and effective. The Minnesota United FC, the City of Saint Paul, Metro Transit, the Department of Transportation, the Union Park District Council, and other stakeholders should collaborate to consider and implement the recommendations outlined in this report. Soccer fans and Saint Paul Midway residents can benefit greatly from these recommendations.

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Appendix 1:

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)

Isanti

ChisagoSherburne

Wright

Anoka

WashingtonHennepin

Ramsey

Carver

Dakota

Goodhue

Scott

Le Sueur Rice© OpenStreetMap (and) contributors, CC-BY-SA

0 7.5 153.75 Miles

Minnesota United Ticket Sales by Zipcode

±

) Stadium

County Boundaries

Ticket Sales by Zip Code0.70 - 0.85

0.86 - 1.10

1.11 - 1.38

1.39 - 1.59

1.60 - 2.32

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Appendix 2: Sources Name Organization Andres Di Zitti LA Metro Eric Durkee Minnesota United Brian Funk Metro Transit Bruce Howard Metro Transit Peter Martinez Juice Bikes, Orlando Bryant Pfeiffer MLS Michael Sonn St. Paul Bike Coalition Brian Quarstad United Park District Council Emily Thompson City of Orlando Kelly Urista Wilder Foundation

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Appendix 3: Web Emphasis of Public Transit From Portland:

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From Wrigley Field:

From CHS Field:

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