Light-rail service along the Metro Transit Blue Line and a section of the Green Line will serve only Super Bowl LII ticket holders on Feb. 4.

The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee launched its “Know Before You Go” campaign on Monday, which included gameday changes to light-rail transit.

Twin Cities residents not attending the Super Bowl won’t have access to the Blue Line and stops along the Green Line from Stadium Village to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Metro Transit will charge Super Bowl ticket holders $30 for a “gameday pass” to board the rail to U.S. Bank Stadium, while regular transit users will be directed to replacement buses operating along each light-rail line.

“We had to try and figure out a way to best serve our riders that frankly didn’t need to be going to the game, and not have them be part of the lines, not have them … be part of the screening process,” said Howie Padilla, Metro Transit public relations manager. Related Articles St. Paul PD highlights surveillance photos of looting suspects, seeks tips

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Metro Transit will have screening areas set up at the Stadium Village and Mall of America stations for ticket holders. Trains will run nonstop to U.S. Bank Stadium from the two stations.

Green Line service along stops east of Stadium Village will still operate throughout the day.

Padilla said the changes were made because the screening process would have inconvenienced normal riders, subjecting them to long waits.

“We just frankly did not want our regular riders to get caught up in that screening process,” he said.

Metro Transit isn’t the first transportation agency to offer an exclusive service to Super Bowl ticket holders.

In 2016, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority offered a special rail service to Levi’s Stadium for about 10,000 Super Bowl attendees. Riders were required to pre-purchase fares through a mobile app to use the service.

SCVTA still operated its normal trains throughout the day without making stops at the stadium.

Metro Transit’s plan drew criticism from some who said it’s unfair to average riders in need of reliable weekend transportation.

“It’s creating two tiers of people: Those who can afford expensive Super Bowl tickets, and those who cannot,” said Nate Hood, a St. Paul resident and Metro Transit user.

Hood added that the replacement buses are unsatisfactory, and allow officials to use the trains to “project an image of this city.”

Rick Cardenas of St. Paul STRONG, a civic advocacy group, said Super Bowl ticket holders can afford to pay for alternate transportation options, like taxis.

“I’m strongly against them stopping the public from riding light rail,” Cardenas said, adding that he hopes the plan will be addressed in union negotiations.

Unionized Metro Transit workers, including bus drivers and light-rail operators, recently rejected a contract proposal from the Metropolitan Council.

The vote by members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 on Monday also authorized a Super Bowl strike if a new contract isn’t agreed upon by January.

The timing of the strike and Metro Transit’s light-rail plans is reflective of social equity issues, Hood said.

“These people have jobs, these people have families, these people need a good reliable way to get around,” he said.