Sustainability Matters: Venues Go The Extra Mile Toward Greener Transportation (Transportation Special 2026)

As the results from a major climate study on the carbon footprint of live music found, if the industry wants to bring about real environmental changes, focusing on travel is key. The report – which was announced in December 2025 and released by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Climate Machine, with support from Coldplay, Warner Music Group (WMG), Live Nation and Hope Solutions – discovered that fan travel was the single largest source of live music emissions, accounting for 77.2% in the U.K. and 62.2% in the U.S., based on data from over 80,000 shows across the U.K. and U.S.

The study’s solutions for combatting the impact of fan travel include: “Industry-wide commitment to support low-carbon travel through incentives, Prioritization of venues accessible by low-carbon transportation, Recognition of inequity in venues with high transportation costs, and Standardized campaigns to collect and share fan travel data.”
To go along with Pollstar’s annual transportation special, we reached out to several venues that are prioritizing sustainable transportation options.

For Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, which is operated and was developed by Oak View Group (Pollstar’s parent company), sustainability has been the driving force since the venue underwent its redevelopment, including a commitment to encouraging fans to use sustainable transportation.

“We always say that we’re thinking about sustainability from the moment you leave your house. So it’s like, ‘How can we make this as easy as possible for our fans to be the most sustainable outside, but also in our arena?’” says Brianna Treat, director of sustainability at Climate Pledge Arena.

With a goal of having 25% of fans take public transit to events, the venue’s ownership group invested $7 million in the monorail, which is about a five-minute walk from Climate Pledge Arena’s doors.

“We subsidize all public transit to all of our events, which means that your ticket to the building doubles as a free public transit pass two hours before and after our events, and we do that for every single event. … So whether you need to take the bus, the light rail, the Monorail or a water taxi, we are subsidizing that travel for you,” Treat says.
Climate Pledge Arena has exceeded its goal, with currently around 27% of fans taking public transit to any event and the venue is encouraging more to go green with its “Know Before You Go” emails reminding attendees of the subsidized tickets.

UBS Arena, which is located in Elmont, New York and owned by the New York Islanders, OVG and Sterling Equities, launched the “Ride & Dine” pilot program in February 2024, giving attendees who take the Long Island Rail Road to the venue the chance to win a $20 food and beverage voucher.

“The Ride & Dine pilot program has been activated on 32 events since February 2024 across NY Islanders games and arena events,” GM Mike Sciortino said. “This was built around rewarding our fans for making more sustainable choices. In partnership with the Long Island Rail Road and our naming rights partner UBS, we wanted to incentivize guests to take public transportation by adding real value to their experience. By pairing transit with our in-arena dining, we’re recognizing and encouraging greener behaviors. It’s a program that supports sustainability while enhancing their overall guest experience when visiting UBS Arena.”

More events featuring the “Ride & Dine” offer will be announced on a rolling basis, with the hope of one day being able to offer this at all events.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is the home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and WNBA’s Indiana Fever, celebrated Earth Month with the second annual “Pedal to the Pacers” event, encouraging basketball fans to ride their bike to the game. Presented by Upland Brewing, fans were invited to join in on a pre-ride party at Upland Brewing in Fountain Square ahead of a guided, police-escorted bike ride along the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick that headed to the venue. Ticket packages included a limited edition T-shirt, a beverage voucher at the game and complimentary bike valet parking at the Virginia Avenue garage.

Following the initial event in 2025, which came together at the last minute, Madeline Plank, who serves as sustainability project coordinator at Pacers Sports & Entertainment, explains the venue aimed to go bigger in 2026. “We had our marketing teams involved [and] the event sponsored by a local brewery called Upland Brewing, which was just fantastic. Year-over-year, it grew [and] we had over 100 riders this year. A great visual seeing loads of people biking through Indianapolis to get to the game.”

Plank adds, “We’re planning it for Fever season this fall, so that’s very exciting. … And then hopefully make it more regular where it’s just part of our values that people are cycling to events at Gamebridge Fieldhouse. There’s a lot of driving that happens in the city, but I think if we can make a really safe way to get around and educate on the safe ways to get around the city by bike, that helps us and it helps the environment.”

Over at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Cubs has proudly been offering its bike valet program for more than 20 years.
Currently, about 63% of fans use alternatives to driving when journeying to the ballpark, including more than 6,000 fans who took advantage of Wrigley Field’s bike valet program last season.

“Wrigley Field is an extremely transit‑oriented venue and getting to the ballpark without a car is how most fans arrive. Nearly two‑thirds of fans arrive without a car, and the bike valet has become another great option. We’ve seen an 18% growth in bike valet use year over year, with thousands of guests utilizing the service each season. We’re proud to champion more eco-friendly ways to get to the ballpark while making green choices easy for our fans with welcoming, practical solutions that also keep gamedays moving smoothly for the surrounding neighborhood,” said Maria Sapienza, who serves as Director, Analysis and Planning Operations at Chicago Cubs.

Minneapolis’s Target Field, home to MLB’s Minnesota Twins, which prides itself on being the self-described “most multi-modal, transit-oriented ballpark in America,” offers plenty of alternative transportation options.

Hannah Bremer, the team’s Manager of Community Impact, notes that “Target Field is connected to Minneapolis’s Cedar Lake Trail for pedestrian and bike access, and the ballpark features hundreds of bike parking spaces on the promenade and at various locations around the ballpark. The Twins offer a secure, staffed bike corral located near Gate 6 and Target Field Station where fans can store their bike at no cost while they enjoy a game at Target Field.”

Plus, she adds that “Target Field is more accessible by public transit than any other ballpark in America. Connected by the Metro Transit blue and green lines and numerous bus lines, Target Field gives fans many options to get to the game.”

When taking a car is the only option, there are still ways to limit emissions.

Oak View Group has a partnership with rideshare company Lyft across more than 75 venues and the OVG Sustainability Team celebrated Earth Month by collaborating with Global Partnerships to deploy a call to action for venue visitors to utilize the “Lyft Green Ride” setting, in which customers can request electric or hybrid vehicles.

Kristen Fulmer, executive director at GOAL and global head of sustainability at OVG, noted that many facilities participated in this call to action by sharing social media posts and KBYG emails.

Overall, there was a 40% increase in total green rides at participating facilities in April compared to January through March, with Moody Center in Austin, Texas (four times); Kia Forum in Inglewood, California (two times) and Madison Square Garden in New York (30% more) amongst those with the biggest increases in green rides.