There's been "misinformation" about Boston World Cup parking, Gillette Stadium rep says

Ahead of this summer's World Cup, Massachusetts state officials launched a "Kick The Drive" campaign urging ticket holders to take public transportation to Foxboro due to "extremely limited" parking and heavier-than-usual traffic expected on match days. But that wasn't necessarily the message a representative for Gillette Stadium conveyed on Wednesday.

"There's been a little bit of misinformation out there," Jim Nolan, the chief operating officer of Kraft Sports + Entertainment said at a Patriot Place press conference about what fans need to know with one month to go until the first match.

Back in February, MBTA officials revealed that parking would be drastically reduced around what will be known as "Boston Stadium." Instead of the 20,000 spots that are usually available for New England Patriots games, the T said only 5,000 spaces will be allotted for fan parking on match days.

Nolan said FIFA does currently have 5,000 parking spots available for pre-sale at $175 apiece around the stadium, "but we have thousands more that we could add." He also said independent lots along Route 1 will account for another 5,000 parking spaces.

"We have significant parking, significant enough parking capacity for anyone who wants to drive to Gillette," Nolan said. "We have more than enough parking."

Just last week, Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said he guarantees "that there's going to be a lot of extra traffic" in the area, especially for weekday matches. 

"FIFA is not your typical event," Gulliver said. "This is like a Taylor Swift concert, playoff series, the World Series and Super Bowl all in one place."  

But Nolan on Wednesday pointed to special MBTA Commuter Rail trains, which have sold more than 31,000 tickets, and express bus service that will have more people traveling to Foxboro by train and bus "than any event in the history of Gillette Stadium."

"The number of vehicles on Route 1 is going to be down significantly from a Taylor Swift concert or a New England Patriots football game," Nolan said.

Nolan said that about 70% of ticket holders are going to be coming from outside the Boston area, and he expects they will be taking advantage of train and bus options.

"If I'm speaking to our local fans in particular, if you were coming to a concert or if you were coming to a football game, we recommend you travel the way you would," Nolan said. "And as you know, most of those people drive."