The New York Mets and mass mobility service company Rally on July 19 announced a partnership to provide shuttle service to three upcoming Mets games from special locations or crowdsourced trips. This service will be available for the Saturday, July 27, game against the Atlanta Braves, the Saturday, Aug. 17, game against the Miami Marlins and the Saturday, Sept. 7, game against the Cincinnati Reds.
The three initial routes for these Mets games will be in southeast Brooklyn, Long Beach and on Long Island’s south shore. Rally has created locations near local Mets-focused sports bars where fans can meet up and hang out, known as “Rally points.” Participating stops for the initial route, on the south shore of Long Island, will include Rudi’s Bar and Grill in Patchogue, Lily Flanagan’s in Babylon and The Main Event in Farmingdale. The program is supported by Coors, an official partner of the Mets.
“Rally makes perfect sense for the Mets and Mets fans, and we’re excited to be working with the team directly to improve the game day experience,” Rally founder Numaan Akram said. “The Mets are one of baseball’s most popular teams and have an incredibly loyal fan base. But even with New York City’s exceptional mass transit system, it can be tough to get to games – trains get crowded and traffic gets slow. With Rally, Mets fans can travel from wherever they are, with fans just like them, arrive energized for the game and know they’ll be traveling home safely in comfort and avoiding post-game traffic.”
Rally has been offering service to Mets games and providing the team’s fan club with travel to away games for many years. Amenities for these rides include, Wi-Fi, video screens and a restroom. People are allowed to bring food and drinks onboard, and can store personal belongings and gear on the buses for safekeeping.
“As we look to continuously improve the overall Mets fan experience, we must ensure that we are always seeking to expand the quality and quantity of transportation options to Citi Field, beyond driving or taking NYC public transportation,” said LJ Nassivera, vice president of transportation strategies at the New York Mets. “Just like the launch of CitiBike and an expanded rideshare area earlier this year, this partnership with Rally gives our fanbase a new and exciting way to get to-and-from games to support their favorite team.”
The Rally app also allows for fans to create pop-up bus stops, creating a convenient location for them to book round-trip travel to events like Mets games.
While Rally itself does not own buses, it networks together thousands of small private bus operators through its technology platform. This helps to create more business for these operators. The mass mobility service company’s crowdsourcing platform has enabled hundreds of thousands of fans to attend the top sports and music events across North America, facilitating nearly 3 million rides in over 4,000 cities across 40 states and four countries.
By converting potential car trips to mass transit, Rally has contributed to reduced congestion and drunk driving, while also protecting the environment by saving an estimated 144 million pounds of CO2.
In 2021, Rally merged with OurBus, which provides regular intercity bus service and competes with legacy bus companies by applying technology and business innovation. OurBus uses proprietary AI to forecast demand and schedule service through its network of private operators, connecting more than 150 stops across the northeastern United States and Canada. For more information, visit Rally’s website at rally.co and OurBus at ourbus.com.
