NORFOLK, Va. — Football season is almost back! If you plan on going to Norfolk State University games this year, you may want to keep reading, because there are a lot of ways to get to the stadium for free.
“We haven’t played a game yet, but people are talking about Norfolk State Football,” said Ross Gordon, Assistant Director with the NSU Sports Broadcasting Division for the Athletics Department.
There's a lot of buzz around the Spartans this year, in part due to Michael Vick being named the team's head coach. If you want to see some long bombs and some runs up the gut in the Mermaid City, a partnership between Hampton Roads Transit, the city, and NSU have numerous ways to get you there for free. We’ll start with the Tide Light Rail.
“Building on the success we’ve had with the Norfolk Tides and the city, we’re delighted to offer the same options for Norfolk State fans this football season. That means free light rail, two hours before and after each game,” said Thomas Becher with HRT.
HRT parking lots will be free at the Newtown Road and Military Highway stations. The City of Norfolk will also make parking free at the MacArthur Center garages.
“We’ve also worked with Norfolk State in providing shuttle buses that will be out of the south garage right to campus as well,” said Kelly Straub with the City of Norfolk.
The free transportation comes amid work on on-campus projects, like the building of the science center, resulting in less parking in and around the university. Additionally, the city will be patrolling off-campus neighborhoods.
“There’s also going to be temporary 'no parking' signs, so we are asking fans to really abide by that. There will be ticketing and towing. It really becomes an ingress, egress situation for safety in and out of neighborhoods,” Straub told News 3.
HRT also offers the Student Freedom Pass, which gives students aged 13-17 unlimited free rides its services. For more information, click here.
