Taylor Swift: Transit Superstar
Taylor Swift and Her Fans Are Saving Public Transit One City at a Time. Or Else.
Over the past few months, I’ve been pursuing a side quest: watching local news coverage of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour (via YouTube), primarily to see how local agencies deal with the impact her legions of fans have as they descend upon the concert venue and city she’s playing in.
What started as something to do while I have my morning coffee has become an ongoing case study in the do’s and don’ts of hosting a massively popular event. Host cities for SuperBowls, World Cups, etc. would be wise to take notice.
Think about it: you have a massive number of people, all of whom are really excited to see the show and be a part of the extended fan community. For the most part they are not intentionally destructive (although there might be a lot of glitter to clean up later).
Many of the people arriving aren’t locals - in fact they may be from literally anywhere in the world, all there to see Taylor Swift. Finding a way to ensure fans get the message and know how to get to the concert safely is the challenge these systems were supposed to take on, after all.
As for any transit system, government, or ticket seller that chooses to f*ck with them in any way? No problem - the Swiftie Aeronautics and Space Administration will ensure you are launched into Earth orbit. Without a spacesuit.
All of this makes for a far more interesting bit of infotainment for my morning coffee, seeing the convergence of pop culture and public policymaking gets serious really fast. Agencies that play nice with the tour and the fans see the benefits of rising up to the challenge. Such goodwill can extend into benefits for the agency later on, whereas bad will can have serious consequences. (Just ask Ticketmaster, who inspired a rare moment of bipartisan unity with their incredible ticket sales screw ups).
Take, for example, Minneapolis. When Swift’s concert dates were announced, Metro Transit almost seemed defiant when they announced they would not be extending service to accomodate concert-goers, no matter what, setting off a frenzy of activity. This ended with the agency reversing its decision and Swift fans were able to go to the concert safely. No word on any space launches in the Twin Cities have been reported. Yet.
You don’t have to be immersed in pop culture, nor have a Master’s Degree in Transit Smarts to know that this is kind of stupid. You have a situation where, whether the agency likes it or not, lots of people are arriving to a venue, and if you want to avoid a world-ending traffic jam full of cars, you better do something besides say “not my job lol”.
So far, Bay Area agencies and cities have had a mixed response for the concert this weekend. Both BART and the VTA have spent a lot of time encouraging fans to use public transit, and so far the messaging seems to be working. Santa Clara even renamed itself “Swiftie Clara” for the event.
However, “Swiftie Clara” (which owns Levi’s Stadium) made a critical mistake when it announced that Swift fans would not be allowed to exchange friendship bracelets (something that’s part of the fan experience at Taylor Swift concerts.) After calls flooded the Governor’s Office, Congress, the UN, and everyone else with protests, the ban was reversed.
Honestly, if Superman himself were to step in front of an army of Swift fans and tell them “Ha ha, no you can’t go to the concert” they would find a way to synthesize kryptonite on the spot, kick his ass, and still have time to exchange bracelets afterwards. Bureaucrats would be wise to pay attention!
Now, I don’t suggest that People In Charge should only listen to large mobs for all aspects of policy - rather they should simply listen and pay attention to the public they allegedly serve, and work with them, rather than see them as a nuisance.
BART, Muni, etc. don’t exist for any other reason than to move people around to where they want to go. They do not exist for the benefit of the handful of people in charge, nor do they exist to “make money” to boost a stock price.
When they stay true to their mission, everyone wins, whether it’s at a Taylor Swift concert, or you’re just trying to get somewhere around town.
I just hope we see some transit themed friendship bracelets when it’s over!
Speaking of transit related art, I wanted to let everyone know about a great art show coming up from KPXSF, one of my favorite accounts to follow on Instagram. KP is a local artist based here in San Francisco who makes amazing Muni themed art, including Muni jewelry, apparel and more . I will be attending the show and will be writing a profile of KP in an upcoming post. Until then, please follow her Instagram account and try and check out the show if you can!