To judge by the reaction at a recent public meeting, people aren’t going to be driving to the Nets arena on one-way Park Slope avenues anytime soon. So how should they do it? If Brooklyn is going to have a gathering place for 20,000 people, and may I remind the reader that hosting large gatherings has been one of the prime purposes of cities from the beginnings of history, then the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush is the right place to put it -- because of transit links to a huge swath of the region, not road capacity. So those who do not live within walking distance to a rail transit station should drive to one, park, and ride the rest of the way in.

Back when the arena was first being discussed, I wrote to many entities suggesting that as part of the price for the rail yard site, Forest City should be required, in perpetuity, to include a two-ride Metrocard with any ticket to any event, whether the ticketholder planned to use mass transit or not. This would provide an ongoing source of revenue for the MTA, rather than a lump sum to be blown at once, and ensure that the ticketholder had no incentive not to drive to the arena. Taking a half hour subway ride to one’s car may seem inconvenient, but it isn’t. Even for suburban arenas with direct highway access, the traffic jam as everyone attempts to exit the parking lot can add a half hour delay in and of itself. If the cars were dispersed, that jam and that delay would be absent.

Whether because I suggested it or somebody else did, I thought I read in the newspaper at the time the project was approved that such a stipulation was part of the approval. It may or may not be so, and it may or may not be legally binding. I hope it is true, and that it is legally binding. And I hope all those parking spaces are not for the arena. Furthermore, I hope that the huge amount of money for “infrastructure” includes a pedestrian passage under Atlantic Avenue from the subway/LIRR complex to the arena site for those arriving by train. Otherwise, having 15,000 pedestrians trying to cross the street at 6:40 pm on a weekday is not going to do the nearby street grid any good.

To further discourage parking in the vicinity of the arena, I suggest blocking off residential side streets within ½ mile of the arena on weekday game nights, limiting access to residents, and implementing a low priced permit system for parking overnight on the street within a one-mile distance. The permit could kick in at 9:00 pm, making it impossible for arena goers to park in the vicinity without getting a ticket.

To encourage park and ride, both for the arena and otherwise, perhaps money could be found for new facilities and services for that purpose. The Long Island Railroad runs special trains out to Belmont Park, where there are huge parking fields, when the horses are running. Perhaps that station could be equipped with Metrocard fare control, and a special subway-like shuttle service could be used to shuttle drivers from eastern Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk to the arena. Perhaps the service could be used for daily commuters as well. In Brooklyn, perhaps a deck could be built over the Sea Beach Line (currently used by the N-train) and LIRR in the vicinity of the 8th Avenue station. Those from south-east Brooklyn, Staten Island, and central New Jersey could drive up on the Belt Parkway, park in the lot, and have a 12-minute ride to the arena. Or, during the work week, they could park there and have a 30 minute ride to Midtown.

How about those coming from Northern New Jersey, the Lower Hudson Valley, and Connecticut? I doubt they would be part of the Nets fan base, as they would have to take transit right past Madison Square Garden and the Knicks to get to Brooklyn. And the population of geographic Long Island, Staten Island, and central New Jersey is huge enough that the Nets wouldn’t need them.

The broader Atlantic Yards development has become such a good vs. evil crusade that nuts and bolts concerns like these have seemingly disappeared. If there is a public purpose and benefit here, the arena and adjacent commercial development is the biggest part of it. The arena will only be a benefit, however, if people don’t drive to it, and attempts to accommodate such driving, if that’s what the one-way proposal was, are self-defeating.