UCLA Distinguished Research Professor of Urban Planning Donald Shoup commented in a Next City story on a proposed plan for a new downtown sports arena in Philadelphia that has raised a number of concerns, including expectations of an increase in game-day traffic congestion. A traffic analysis commissioned by the city projects that avoiding “catastrophic congestion” would require at least 40% of game attendees to take public transit to the stadium, according to the story. One proposed solution, which has shown some success in cities in the U.S. and other countries, is transit validation — free transit with each game ticket sold. “If you were going to drive to the game, wouldn’t you be happy if you thought that everybody else was taking the bus? So who’s losing? Nobody’s losing,” Shoup said. At the same time, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) faces a $240 million deficit with state leaders grappling with how to avoid service cuts.