ATLANTA — Downtown Atlanta is set to be especially packed on Friday night as both Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena will play host to megastars.
Taylor Swift will play the first of three concerts at the Benz while Ms. Jackson will be playing the second of her two shows that were scheduled this week.
As always, the easiest (and cheapest) way to get dropped off right at the two stadiums is MARTA.
But if you're heading downtown with a rideshare like Uber or Lyft, keep in mind that the extremely high volume of traffic in the area will likely mean surcharge pricing.
Here's what you want to know about avoiding eye-popping surcharges:
Rideshare surcharge pricing for Taylor Swift and Janet Jackson in Atlanta
- How much will the surcharge price be?
No real way to know this for sure in advance, but if you're used to $10-$20 for a relatively short ride, know that surcharge pricing Downtown would likely result in a lot more than that.
- Can you avoid a surcharge by booking in advance?
You can!
- Use the Uber Reserve feature, which allows you to request a ride up to 90 days or 30 minutes in advance at any time.
- Uber said that the price is then locked in at the time of the request and that trips are protected against pricing changes later on.
Other tips for taking a rideshare Downtown
- Get dropped off away from the stadium.
Centennial Olympic Park Drive runs up to the front entrances of State Farm Arena and meets MLK Jr. to go in front of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. This area basically comes to a standstill on big event nights - do not plan to get dropped off in front of these venues.
If you're coming from the direction of Centennial Olympic Park, you'll probably come close to a stop there too.
Best play is to probably pick out an area nearby you don't mind walking from. It's pretty easy to get dropped off somewhere along Marietta Street behind the park. Northside Drive behind the stadium and arena is also an option but keep in mind it's not a very pedestrian-friendly roadway.
There are also several side streets directly to the south of the Benz - Magnum St., Chapel St., Haynes St., Elliott St. etc. - that you could probably get into and walk from.