A few days before the series of three concerts that Swift will deliver at BC Place, certain parking lots advertised their available places at $150 for the evenings of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As for the costs of a short trip with the Uber platform, they quadruple for show evenings.
The local transport operator, TransLink, plans to improve the schedule of its bus services, the SkyTrain and the SeaBus ferry on concert evenings, to meet demand.
“We will maximize the frequency and capacity to get customers to concerts and get them home as quickly and safely as possible,” said TransLink spokesperson Tina Lovegreen during a briefing. press held Monday.
Demand for public transit is likely to be high, in part due to the cost of other options.
Reserving a space in the Indigo parking lot at Rogers Arena, home of the Vancouver Canucks located across from BC Place, costs $151.90 on show nights.
An Indigo customer service employee, who declined to provide her name, explained that the rate increase “is necessary to ensure a smooth and convenient parking experience” since the Canucks play at home Friday and Sunday and the Cirque du Soleil performs nearby during the weekend.
The employee did not know how many parking spaces had been reserved so far.
The cost of a short Uber ride to BC Place has also skyrocketed, even for Swifties who want to book their ride.
As of Monday afternoon, a 1.3 kilometer ride from the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center to BC Place cost less than $10. For the same trip a few hours before Friday's concert, the reservation was more than $41.
Police expect more than 300,000 people to be around the stadium on concert nights.
During a press briefing last week, BC Place general manager Chris May confirmed that areas around the stadium will be strictly reserved for ticket holders. Camping around the stadium will be prohibited and several streets will be closed to facilitate the movement of people leaving the stadium at the end of the evening.
Vancouver will be the final stop on Taylor Swift's “Eras” tour, which has enjoyed resounding success around the world. The only other Canadian city to host the tour is Toronto, where the singer performed six sold-out concerts at the Rogers Centre, home of the Blue Jays, in November.
