Getting to Target Field

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The quick read

Downtown Minneapolis put a light rail station on the ballpark’s doorstep, and that changes the calculus most fans run at every other park: skip the car. Two METRO lines stop a few steps from the gates. Rideshare covers whoever isn’t near a station. Driving still works for a group riding together, though the North Loop ramps and lots fill on a big night.

The METRO

METRO is the light rail brand run by Metro Transit, the Twin Cities’ public transit agency. Two of its lines, the Blue Line and the Green Line, both stop at Target Field Station, which sits right against the ballpark on 5th Street. Riders arriving that way come out closest to Gate 6 (Oliva) and Gate 29 (Carew). The Blue Line runs to the Mall of America and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The Green Line runs to downtown St. Paul and the University of Minnesota.

Landing at MSP and heading to a game, the Blue Line normally runs straight to Target Field Station with no transfer, roughly a 30 to 40 minute ride. Metro Transit does run construction reroutes that swap buses in for trains on stretches of the line, so check the Blue Line’s status before you count on a one-seat trip from the airport.

Fares run through the Metro Transit app, the agency’s mobile ticketing app, or a Go-To Card, Metro Transit’s reloadable fare card.

• A single ride: $2.00, good for 2½ hours, which covers a transfer if you need one.
• Reduced fare (kids 6-12, seniors 65+, Medicare cardholders): $1.00.
• An All-Day Pass: $4.00 adult, $2.00 reduced. The simplest choice if you’re doing a game and a full day downtown.
• A trip that stays inside the downtown core: $0.50 Downtown Zone fare.

Rideshare

Pickup and drop-off for rideshare sit in designated zones near the ballpark. On a big night, expect surge pricing after the last out, the same as any full house leaving downtown at once, and pull the designated pickup point out of your app when you’re ready to go rather than dropping a pin at the gate.

Driving and parking

The ABC ramps, the Target Field lots, and the downtown ramps make up the three pools of parking around the ballpark, and a car works fine for a group splitting the cost of one ramp. On a weeknight against a middle-of-the-pack opponent, arriving 45 minutes ahead is plenty. On a weekend or a marquee opponent, the close-in ramps and lots tend to fill before first pitch, and the downtown ramps become the fallback.

By bike

A staffed bike corral runs near Gate 6 and Target Field Station on game days, free to use. For a downtown ballpark with a light rail platform built into the site, riding in and locking up close to the gate skips the ramps and the pickup zones entirely.

Gate strategy

Go to whichever gate is closest to where you’re arriving. Light rail riders land closest to Gate 6 (Oliva) and Gate 29 (Carew), right off the Target Field Station platform. Gate 3 (Killebrew) is at 5th Street and 3rd Avenue and Gate 14 (Hrbek) is on 7th Street behind home plate. Gate 34 (Puckett) is the biggest of the five and opens onto Target Plaza and the statue lineup, worth knowing if a pregame stop there is part of the plan rather than a detour from it.

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