Avoiding disaster at stadium on Friday

It seems as if the traffic flow from the stadium is nobody’s concern. This does not bother me as I park far away and walk to the venue. The concept of mass transportation is yet to reach TT .

The Public Transport Service Corporation should do a feasibility study for the next century.

The most important grouse is gaining access. For the game against St Vincent, gates at the Jean Pierre Complex opened at 4.35 pm for a 7 pm start. Entrance to the covered stand was via one gate and they were not ready to allow entry.

In discussions with other patrons, however, they were all happy when compared to the disaster at the previous US game, as the key for the one gate could not be found.

Let us expect a full house of 21,000 spectators and that the seven lanes open on time at 4 pm, three hours before kick-off. This is equivalent to 1,000 spectators per lane per hour. And in each lane, each person is scanned and searched and ticket checked. In other words, this is a near impossible task.

And add the factor that over half of the spectators will arrive within one hour of kick-off and you have a disaster as usual. Bring out the Riot Squad.

One possible solution is to have two points of entry – at Jean Pierre Complex and behind the covered stands (Maraval Parkway).

A snaked pathway of at least 50 feet must be created, leading to each lane entrance to prevent pushing and to maintain order. With 14 lanes of entry, there is no need for the Riot Squad and no long lines waiting for entry before kick-off.

With regard to entrances to the stands, there should be at least one entrance per 500 spectators. (What is the international recommendation?) It is now easy to estimate the number of spectators as all tickets are now electronically purchased via VIA.

Hopefully, the next set of tickets will be barcoded for scanning. Is this the end for overselling of tickets ? la 1989?

Philip Ayoung-Chee via email