Transportation plan for the Nets game tomorrow: Barclays Center will charter buses; MTA will add buses (special help for arena?); LIRR, parking to get much use; no-idling laws said to be enforced, finally

Get ready for more crowding on the streets around the Barclays Center tomorrow afternoon and evening for the Brooklyn Nets home opener, as the arena and the MTA--that's public resources--provide more buses in the wake of a partial subway system shutdown.

Also, far more people will be taking the Long Island Rail Road, given no subway service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Will the 400 bicycle spaces finally be used?

Special shuttle buses from Manhattan, near Port Authority

Newsday reports, citing the Barclays Center, that there will be six buses, though it's not clear whether they will make multiple round-trips:

Special Free Shuttle Buses: The Brooklyn Nets have leased a fleet of Best Trails and Travel buses to offer fans free round-trip transportation on a first-come, first-served basis from Manhattan, at 9 th Avenue between 40th and 41 st streets, to Barclays Center. The first bus will depart at 4:30 p.m., with five additional buses arriving for pick-up approximately every 15 minutes. After the game, passengers can re-board the buses on Atlantic Avenue, directly across the street from the arena, near South Portland Avenue, to return to Manhattan.

Atlantic Avenue directly across the street from the arena has already been quite crowded when events sell out. This also implies that event-goers will be tempted to crowd into the street and stop traffic.

The MTA is stepping up:

MTA Buses: All MTA Brooklyn bus routes have been restored with limited service, however the MTA will be providing additional buses to the routes serving the arena as necessary for both the pre and post game periods. Eleven bus lines stop near the arena: B25, B26, B38, B41, B45, B52, B63, B65, B67, B69, and B103. In addition, the MTA will continue to offer free buses from Manhattans East Side, with pick-up at 54 th Street and Lexington Avenue and which will be stopping at 4th Avenue and Pacific Street, one block west of the arena. The trip will make six stops.

Emphasis added. So Fourth Avenue might be more congested.

LIRR & Parking

Expect a lot more use of the Long Island Rail Road:

Subways/LIRR: Some subway and LIRR lines are working and will bring fans to Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center or LIRR Atlantic Terminal. The D, R, 4 and 5 trains from Brooklyn stop at Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and the A train is stopping at nearby Lafayette Avenue. There is currently no subway service between Manhattan and Barclays Center. LIRR service will be operating hourly between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica only.

Also expect more use of parking:

Parking: Ticketholders are encouraged to utilize the Barclays Center pre-paid parking system, operated by Click and Park, at www.BarclaysCenter.com through which they can reserve parking spaces in a specific lot located within easy walking distance of the arena. There are 18 parking facilities with approximately 3,500 parking spaces available within a half-mile radius of the arena. There are also five remote parking facilities within a mile of Barclays Center, with more than 1,200 spaces.

There are surely more spaces than in the prepaid inventory. Still, there likely will be far more people driving tomorrow than for any other event previously.

Will cops crack down?

The announcement also states:

Black Cars: For patrons utilizing black cars, drivers must be notified that no-idling laws will be strictly enforced. A drop-off/pick-up zone is available on the east-bound side of Atlantic Avenue between Fort Greene Place and 6 th Avenue.

That's a very small drop-off zone. Black cars have been idling across the street and in the neighborhood. The no-idling laws have not been previously enforced.

The full release

Brooklyn Nets Barclays Center Transportation Plan, announced Nov. 2, 2012