Even though WrestleMania was held in New Jersey this year, fans attending the event encountered some serious transit problems post-Wrestlemania. While WWE and New Jersey are pointed the finger at one another, fans were left paying exorbitant amounts of money to make their way home. Here’s the story.
WrestleMania Transit Problems – Uber and Lyft Drivers Extort Fans
As public transport shut down around 1 am, and with the show ending at 12:30 am, fans were left with no choice but to call Uber or Lyft to get home. Unfortunately, Uber and Lyft raised rates and charged fans anything between $100 and $200 for rides into Manhattan and Brooklyn.
It’s past 1 a.m. and 80,000 people are trying to find a way home from MetLife Stadium. Taxis and Ubers are running over $100 at the moment to get back to Manhattan or Brooklyn if you can even find one. Some drivers are walking around the Uber/Lyft area offering rides for $200.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 8, 2019
People who ended up with a cab first were the lucky ones, as many fans were left waiting until 3 am to get a ride home. And, it started pouring down shortly after WrestleMania, so stranded fans were less than thrilled.
WrestleMania Transit Problems: New Jersey Points the Finger at the WWE
NJ Transit is blaming WWE for the issues moving fans out of the Meadowlands last night/early this morning.
Says WWE didn’t bother telling them the event would go late, which meant some crews hit the federal hours limit. pic.twitter.com/FqfYPc0EWO
— Ryan Hutchins (@ryanhutchins) April 8, 2019
Fans who were left stranded at the stadium had some harsh words for New Jersey and its public transport system. However, New Jersey released a statement shortly afterwards, stating that it was the WWE’s fault there was no public transport available.
According to New Jersey, the delay of WrestleMania was the main cause of the incurred transit problems. In their statement, New Jersey explains how it had implemented six extra train sets for the event, which would run to approximately 1 am. Naturally, as the event only ended at 12:30 am, fans could not catch those trains.
New Jersey’s governor Phil Murphy has also released a statement and took the chaos post-WrestleMania upon himself. In a morning press conference, Phil Murphy made the following statement:
“At the end of the day, if folks are frustrated, they ought to be. I would have been crazed. It’s completely and utterly ‘dog-ate-my-homework’ unacceptable. We’re fixing it. We’re gonna learn from this. I’ll be damned if it happens again.”
Wrestlemania Transit Problems – WWE Releases Short Statement
“We regret any inconveniences fans may have experienced with mass transportation after the event.”
While the WWE has released a short statement after Wrestlemania, the company did not take any responsibility for the show running late and fans being stranded. Of course, one thing is to be learned from this year’s Wrestlemania. Is it really necessary to let the show run for seven hours? Could it be arranged a little better so fans attending can make their way home okay? These are questions the company will have to look at for next year’s event.
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