B. Carfree

It's not like I will ever attend a football game, much less the Superbowl, but I found this to be ridiculous.
Banning tailgating is bad enough, but not allowing people to enter an event if they choose to arrive by non-motorized means just strikes me as Unamerican. I think the organizers may have taken too many blows to their heads.

The article does not explicitly state that people will also not be allowed to arrive by bike, but:
So, the biggest sporting event in the U.S. is banning human powered transportation from being used to arrive.

At least they are still allowing people to use public transit. (Actually, they are encouraging it.)
https://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/stor...r-bowl-stadium

I guess baseball is more civilized. There is valet bike parking at AT&T park, home of the SF Giants, and it is well-used.

bikemig 

Well the NFL isn't exactly susceptible to being embarrassed simply because it does the wrong thing. It doesn't pay taxes for example, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...ption/2370945/.

Roody

Unfair, yes. But definitely not unamerican. Vast areas of America are inaccessible by walking, especially in the suburbs.

Dahon.Steve

I know the area around MeLife stadium in East Rutheford and it is encircled by high speed expressways. I don't know anyone who actually bicycled to that stadium. Seriously, I have looked into making an attempt and seen one possible solution but decided not to because the traffic out of the stadium once the game ends is insane. There are no sidewalks to the stadium.

The only safe way to enter the stadium might be through Patterson Plank road from East Rutherford. Good luck with that!

My advice is to take the train from Hoboken. Better yet, watch the game at some pub with your friends.

B. Carfree

Inaccessible or just unpleasant to walk in? A lack of sidewalks has never been an insurmountable barrier to me, but it is better to have them. I have never encountered a suburb that does not have roads in and out of it that I can ride my bike on. It may not be a very fun ride, but riding on lousy roads is pretty common even in the best of communities. Perhaps I just don't have enough experience with the way the suburbs are put together outside of the west.

Anyway, my unamerican remark was not about the relative joy of walking/riding in that locale, but about not being allowed to make such a choice.

Roody

It sounds like you haven't done much walking in America.

Not only many, but most of the suburban arterial roads are inaccessible to most pedestrians. They have no sidewalks. Dirt paths might be ok for you if you're a young adult in good condition. But they're not so great for the elderly, the blind, the slow, or anybody who has balance or gait problems. Would you want your child walking to school on these busy roads? How does an elderly person with a little shopping cart manage it? How does anybody do it when the crappy path has snow on it for five months of the year? Why should you even have to ruin your shoes in the mud after every rainfall?

The newer roads are designed with intersections that have merges and diverges instead of signal controlled pedestrian crossings. These are death traps for pedestrians. If there are controlled ped crossings, they might be a mile apart. For an obese or an elderly person, that might require them to walk an hour out of their way just to cross the street. When they do get there, the signal might not allow them enough time to cross the seven lane street, forcing them to stand in the center lane for an entire traffic cycle.

Hundreds of pedestrians have been killed on these roads, so you're right that the relative joy level is low. Most roads in the suburbs were designed exclusively for cars and trucks, and getting the maximum motor vehicle throughput in the minimum space. All other users are assumed not to even exist. Then the planners say, "We don't need pedestrian facilities here because there are no pedestrians here." It's ****ing ridiculous.

dynodonn 

Definitely not considered UnAmerican...... getting somewhere via motorized transport seems to be the American way to many in the US.

I-Like-To-Bike

What would you estimate is the closest home or hotel to the stadium?

I-Like-To-Bike

What do you think is the likelihood that a single multi$$ ticket holder for this event ever gave even a split second of thought to either riding a bike or walking to/from their hotel, penthouse or far off residence to sit outdoors for at least 4 hours for this event/game on Feb 2 in NJ?

NFL HQ officials may be jerks and robber barons, but you are stretching pretty hard to feel the bicyclist abuse here. $51 for the shuttle bus is something worthwhile to gripe about.

Darth Lefty 

All this seasonal commercialism is preventing us from sharing the true meaning of Superbowl

I-Like-To-Bike

No it fits right in:

Nightshade

Just another example of the bull***** game called....football.

chewybrian 

I think you are right for the most part, but there are exceptions. Check out the area around my local stadium (Spring Training home of the Washington Nationals): Space Coast Stadium

There are 8 foot wide sidewalks in all directions, including my condo. I can walk, or ride my bike or my golf cart to the stadium and:

The grocery, doctor, dentist, barber, vet, sports bar, mall, etc.

It's awesome, if rare. It was a major reason I wanted to live here.

I-Like-To-Bike

Oh do tell, what is the LCFC (Living Car Free Correctness) approved activity to watch or play? Inquiring minds want to know what the elite think is the Right Game for the Righteous.

blacknbluebikes 

Gosh, I do wish that this part of New Jersey was more like Eugene, Oregon.
FAHGETTABOUTIT !
I guess we could let people walk across Route 3... but NJ drivers don't stop much for pedestrians where they don't belong... and no one is really walking on the New Jersey Turnpike much, either.

One has to realize that the Meadowlands Stadium was built in a swamp where our industrial forefathers dumped lots of toxic stuff and no one walked there for years, except maybe Euell Gibbons and Jimmy Hoffa's killers. Now, I guess you could walk across one of the highway off ramp / entry ramps that have no sidewalks. And those ramps don't have sidewalks because they're not connected to any place that people walk. We're talking swampland, a bit of heavy industrial (think big press machines crushing old car bodies) and highways.

The question is not really "why can't you?" ... but "why would you?" Anyone from around this part of NY / NJ thinks it's kinda funny that walking to the game would occur to anyone. And you do NOT want to be the last guy at the tailgate...

Artkansas 

Well, Tour de France and the Xgames come to mind. I love it, so how could anyone not like it?

Roody

The question is, "Why have we built cities that cannot be walked in?" And tailgating is not allowed at the Super Bowl. Go through the drive thru on your way to the game, or purchase an $18 hot dog at the stadium.

Roody

I love the game of football, but the game is only about ten percent of the total package. Probably only one percent at the level of the playoffs and the Super Bowl, and 99 percent commercials for pickup trucks.

chewybrian 

"Frolf, Jerry! Golf...with a Frisbee!"





Actually, I love football, but Frolf strikes me as a 'low impact' event.
(and I love Frolf, too--2002 Amateur Florida State Champ, I was--my only tour win ever).

fietsbob

If you can afford Superbowl tickets you will be staying in a 4 star Hotel .

It's a Class Privilege thing.

the Tail Gate parties will be catered in the Hotels

Darth Lefty 

While "Frolf" is a funnier word, I think the answer is probably Ultimate. The combination of a child's toy with touchdowns and a lot of arguing.

Roody

I hope they also get champagne on the $51 shuttle bus, in case they're too snooty for beer.

fietsbob

Maybe Nike and U of O owner Phil Knight will; get the Game in Eugene at Autzen

for B Carfree's convenience

Roody

I do wish I was going to the Rose Bowl this year. Maybe I'll just burn my couch instead.

gerv 

Interesting factoid. Who would have thought?