New York, New Jersey Lower Costs for World Cup Transit

Prices are coming down for the two main ways to get from New York City to New Jersey for eight World Cup matches including the final this summer: the host committee’s bus service and New Jersey Transit’s train to the stadium.

With $6 million in funding from New York State, the New York/New Jersey host committee’s round-trip shuttle service will only cost $20. The buses had previously cost $80, and fans who already bought tickets will be issued $60 refunds. The Athletic first reported the price reductions for the bus, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed the news in a video posted Wednesday.

As for the NJ Transit trains, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a social media post on Tuesday that round-trip service will now cost $98 per person thanks to money from DoorDash, Audible, FanDuel, DraftKings, PSE&G, South Jersey Industries, and American Water. NJ Transit initially set the price of the round-trip World Cup ticket at $150 per person last month, then lowered the cost to $105 last week. Sherrill said in her post that New Jersey did not provide any additional public funding to lower the cost. The train from New York to MetLife usually costs $12.90.

The NJ Transit train is still the most expensive public transit option to get to a World Cup game among the 11 host cities in the U.S. The next highest city is Boston, where the train to Foxborough will cost $80. In Miami, the privately-owned Brightline could cost up to roughly $150.

The realities of getting to a World Cup match vary drastically among host cities. In some cities like Seattle, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, fans can easily take public transit or walk to centrally located stadiums. But getting to the stadium is more complicated in places where public transit is more limited, such as Dallas and Miami, or where stadiums are far from downtown, like New Jersey and Boston.

In New York, the host committee’s yellow school buses will carry 12,000 fans for the two matches on weekdays and 18,000 fans for the other five. Hochul said that 20% of those seats will be set aside for New Yorkers. Fans will be able to board the buses from three different locations in Manhattan.

“I want to make it more affordable, with New York State support and the host committee, we’re going to do that,” Hochul said.

The trains will carry 40,000 fans to matches, NJ Transit said. The agency will not operate any non-World Cup trains out of New York’s Penn Station for four hours before kickoff on match days.

New Jersey and FIFA have exchanged a war of words over the prices, with Sherrill saying FIFA should cover the $48 million in NJ Transit costs to run the World Cup trains. FIFA rejected the claim and said last month that “the NJ Transit current pricing model will have a chilling effect.”

Last week, as FIFA listed a ticket to the final for nearly $33,000, the press account of Gov. Sherrill’s office replied to a post by Front Office Sports: “Does charging $32,970 for a ticket qualify as a ‘chilling effect’? Asking for a friend.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office confirmed that the often cheeky account is affiliated: “Yes, it is our ‘Press Office’ account.”