Soccer fans dreaming of hoofing it to MetLife Stadium during the World Cup this summer are getting a blunt message from locals: Don't. After NJ Transit revealed that getting to the New Jersey venue by train will run World Cup attendees $150 a pop for a roundtrip ticket—more than 10 times the usual fare—European fans on X floated a workaround of simply walking from nearby transit stops, or even from Manhattan, to avoid the markup. The New York Times traces how that suggestion spiraled into an online culture clash over Americans' car dependence and Europeans' walking habits. "I know walking is an unfamiliar concept for most Americans, but it is a thing in the rest of the world," sniffed one commenter, apparently from overseas, on X.
On paper, the trek is feasible, per the Times: just a few miles from Rutherford, New Jersey, or roughly 10 from Manhattan. In reality, it means wetlands and roads not designed for pedestrians—routes that FIFA has already banned on safety grounds. "There's no way to walk to the stadium," a local from Brooklyn says. "It's like a death trap." Others mentioned that those choosing to walk would have to traverse over busy, dangerous highways or wade through swamps and "toxic creeks."
This Times reporter tried to trek from Rutherford to MetLife in 2013 and had quite an adventure. When he asked a local he encountered during his journey if she knew anyone who'd ever tried strolling to the stadium, she replied, "New Jersey people don't like to walk from the curb to a restaurant." The New York New Jersey Host Committee has formally urged fans not to try it, calling the corridors "serious risks for both pedestrians and motorists." Meanwhile, NorthJersey.com mulls another recommendation: chartering a bus, which, with enough people opting in, could run a relatively cheap $60 per roundtrip ticket.
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